Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » 'Humble' Beginnings (closed)

"What the hell??" Nails followed Jal's gaze backwards as she heard the sounds of struggle- for some reason she didn't think that was Dunsten's doing.

"Come one, Dunsten! Yer letting that chump beat you!?" Cried the elven rogue as she encouraged her bandit ally. Her attention on the brawl behind her didn't linger as she turned her head and focused back on her own opponent. The tomboyish elf smirked as her human knight opponent brought out his shield and powered his armor up with magical runes.

"Oooh! What happened?? I thought you were gonna fight me with your fists!" Cackled the elf tauntingly. As for her, she didn't need any fancy magic, only her tonfas, skills and her dirty tricks. Elves had the reputation for being masters of the arcane, but this young Highborne didn't seem to share her race's affinity for magic.

It didn't matter for Nails if Jal wanted to use his shield or not, or if he wanted to use his magic, she did not feel like she was the underdog here. In fact, as Jal reminded her that he might lose some honor among his peers for fighting a female, Nails just scoffed. "If you wanna take it easy on me because I'm a woman, that's your bad. You can regret your decision later when you're recovering in a hospital bed." Laughed the elf.

She didn't waste time with any further formalities. She was a thief, not a knight! She had no concept of bowing or introducing herself or 'honorable' things like that. Instead, she began circling Jal to place herself in a more advantageous position. Her steps were light, almost as if she were dancing, always bouncing on the balls of her feet, the elf looked as if she was walking on air- feet barely touching the ground.

Strangely, Nails moved towards the man's left, where his shield was. Jal might think that Nails was purposely trying to attack him from the side where he was the most defended but Nails had a plan, she had a lot of experience fighting armored opponents.

The elf was a blur of movement, and as she stepped towards the knight, her plan might come to light. Positioning herself on Jal's left side, she was the furthest away from his striking arm, meaning it'd be difficult to take a swing at her with his fist.

Then, rather than trying to go around the man's shield, the elf pressed her right tonfa against Jal's shield, trying to push it against him so he couldn't shield bash her.

Once she thought she had covered all her bases she attacked. Her left tonfa was brought up and she swung down low and hard, aiming to strike at the back of Jal's knee, specifically targeting the weakest area of the armor. She seemed to instinctively know which parts of the body to hit for maximum damage.

"HAHAHA! Come on! Draw your sword! It ain't gonna change a thing, human!!" Cackled the mad elf.

The blow would’ve really done a number on a normal guy, but Dunsten wasn’t normal- though it certainly broke something, as he clutched his now bleeding nose, staggering back. See, Dunsten was wanted for an assortment of crimes- slave trade and murder were certainly high on the list. Punching a murderer in the face was never a great idea, partly because they were narcissistic at best and at worst, had a fiendish god complex. But then, was punching anyone in the face ever a good idea? “I’m built to take a couple blows, be it sword or fist!” He called out to Nails, far more humor in his voice than one would expect.

Now, Alexei was the one who took the tankard to the face- he flinched and backed up, quickly wiping his eyes, and in the disoriented state instantly went on the defense- he unsheathed the sword at his hip, holding it firm and he swiped the ale from his face. Glendale wasn’t worth it, but the options weren’t exactly looking peachy. A former knight himself, Alexei didn’t exactly enjoy the idea of fighting someone like Lancelot- but then, surrendering wasn’t exactly an option anyways. What was he gonna do, leave Layne to run things? The thought made him cringe externally, the faintest twitch of his eyebrow.

While Lancelot wasn’t looking, Dunsten had made his move- a cautious glance to the barmaid was enough to convey his plans. After all, Onyx was allowed to gather freely here for a reason. A little money and rare ales delivered kept their income high, and Onyx always gathered a crowd. An unsavory crowd, but a crowd with a bit of coin and a lot of bad habits, namely alcoholism. Which brought in more coin, or more favors, either of which proved to keep the tavern warm and food on the table. That and Iskra had a... special relationship with a few members of the female staff.

“Please, stop this!” She cried out, moving to stand between Lancelot and Alexei. The latter wasn’t in on this plan- he scowled at the woman, mumbling something about ‘a sword to the gut’, but she didn’t back down. Instead, her pleading gaze turned to Lancelot, “Please, this doesn’t have to be solved with violence. You’ve all done enough damage tonight!”

Dunsten made his move. For a burly man he was quick, but then he ran with bandits, that was expected. He wouldn’t let the broken nose stop him, and he snatched the back of Glendale’s chair, opting to just THROW HIM backwards, “sorry!” Sure, he might break a bone or two... but he might break the chair too, it was faster than just untying him, and at the very least, it gave Alexei the opportunity he had now, moving forward quickly to fight Lancelot. Keep him busy and stay between the other bandit and the two knights. Alexei’s swing was overhead but strong, meant to be blocked clearly- he had something to say. And based on his form, Alexei wasn’t a run of the mill thief- stance and speed showed he had quite a bit of experience in formal training. He wasn’t someone you could underestimate, “I don’t listen to the rules of the crown or it’s dogs. Lev is a sturdy boy, and if he dies, Glendale dies, and so will you. Don’t underestimate the will of an Onyx bandit.”

Lancelot was happy to strike down Alexei and fight him and Dunsten too, both at once, taking out a second sword for he was a well versed ambidexterous fighter, dual swords being one of his strengths... that was until the maid came over calling for help in stopping the fight, her eyes pleading for assistance.

The fact she had come much too close to the line of fire to ensure her safety forced Lancelot to desist fighting outright altogether. Knightly honour compelled Sir Lancelot to back down, least the innocent woman got hurt with stray blows. He took a deep breath and pursed his lips, unhappy at having to lower the sword, addressing the barmaid first and foremost.

"Apologies, fair maiden, I didn't intend to startle you or put you in harm's way" excused Lancelot courteous, frowning as someone tipped over Glendale and his chair. The chair didn't break but the bandit, who was very well tied to it, did groan in pain and muttered a few curses too

Lancelot looked up at Alexei at length, the man had the steady stance of a seasoned knight, the pose of a well trained warrior. He would undoubtedly make a fine opponent and a highly worthy duel ahead of them if they were to fight one another. But... he would never risk innocent citizens for the sake of the thrill of battle.

"Lower your sword... I will not have these patrons and maids hurt on my account... or yours" informed Lancelot at Alexei as honourable as always.

"We will have to negotiate alternatives in a more peaceful fashion or take the fight outside" pointed out Lancelot
"state your demands and let us see reason, find common ground, without offending the maiden" pointed out Lancelot

The knight didn't move much when Nails engaged him, lifting his shield somewhat to separate himself from the tonfa that pressed against it. The initial clash between his barrier and her weapon caused the former to jerk back a bit but he soon reinforced his grip on the shield so as to press back against her. It seemed like only the blink of an eye before the elf's other tonfa clattered against the sideways fringe of his poleyn. If it were not for the additional plating on its side Nails most certainly would have landed an easy hit, but the side plating resisted her attack.

As the thief challenged the knight to draw his sword he held his ground, continuing to press against her right arm with the shield while he seemed to reach for his blade. Then the knight swiftly raised his hand, as if to pull his longsword from its sheathe-- if not for the fact that his hand was empty. Instead of drawing his blade, the knight simply dropped his shield, allowing his left arm to be pushed against his breastplate while his other arm came around to attempt grabbing the elf's shoulder. If Nails did not recover from the forward momentum his release of the shield provided it would surely help his chances of succeeding.

And if the knight was successful in grabbing the mad elf's shoulder he would waste no time in twisting himself to try pushing her harshly against the wall to his left. Lancelot's attempt at compromise didn't reach Jalsinter, focused as he was on his own fight.

There was a solid *KLANG* noise of metal striking metal as Nails' tonfa collided with Jal's armored knee cap. Despite having dealt no damage whatsoever, the elf's eyes widened and she got a big delighted grin about her. "Ohoo! That's some good armor you got there! I bet it was worth a fortune!" And of course, what she was actually thinking was how much it would sell for in the black market once she pried it off Jal's unconscious body.

Of course, the next natural step for her was to simply keep striking Jal's kneecap. The armor might be protecting his bones from actually breaking, but no armor could protect against the pain of repeated bangs against it by a metal baton. Not unless it was magical but.. Nails wasn't entirely too sure what kind of magical barriers Jal's armor had. She was simply certain that if she kept banging on the man's leg he'd eventually go down.

It was actually Jal raising his hand up that gave Nails plenty of warning that something was about to happen. The elf's pointed ears flicked repeatedly and she backed away from the knight slightly, expecting a strike. Her tonfas were raised up in a boxing like defense that shielded her face and upper body, ready weave and dodge a supposed sword strike.

Instead, she saw Jal lowering his shield for a sneaky grab attempt. "You're trying to fake ME out!?" The elf cried out almost as if she had been insulted. After all, she was supposed to be the dirty street fighter here and Jal was the knight, where was his supposed honor!? Oh well, honestly, this was more her style of brawl anyway.

"Nuh huh!" As Nails saw the arm coming her way, she backed up again and flicked her tonfas forward so that the long portions were pointing towards Jal. Once the knight tried to reach for her shoulder, the elf pressed one of her tonfas against the man's elbow, and the other tonfa pressed against his wrist to try and trap him in an X block and use an arm bar move against him.

"Get off me, punk!" Cackled the crazed elf as she tried to turn the grapple against the knight. If he didn't manage to get out of her fancy arm lock technique, she'd then turn her body to the side and try to throw Jal against the wall where he initially tried to pin her.

For now, she also had nooo idea that Alexei was trying to strike a deal with Lancelot. She was too focused on her own duel.

The woman sighed, taking a few steps back from the situation, “Thank you, sir.” She bowed her head, before glaring at Dunsten, “Don’t throw things around in here like you own the place.”

Dunsten fetched a pouch from his hip, tossing it in her direction with a wink, “Sorry for the damages, miss.” She rolled her eyes, but caught the pouch, inspecting its contents while Dunsten went back to Glendale, “You awake?” He tugged the chair back up to position, patting his shoulder, “Iskra’s gonna hang ya if Lev dies, so ya better make amends with God now.” The friendliness in his tone did little to mask the anger in his eyes.

Alexei didn’t move from his defensive position, keeping his sword raised while Lancelot spoke- though he registered the sounds of struggle from behind him. Idiots, the both of them. Awareness of your surroundings was key to a fight.

“Call off your mutt.” He said firmly, pointing behind himself to somewhere in the direction of the two fighters, “Then we can sit down and talk.” Alexei paused, then barked out, “Nails, that’s enough!”

Lancelot nodded at Alexei's reasonable demand, sheathing his sword and looking at Jals and Nails
"Sir Jalsinter... please... stand down." ordered Lancelot sharply
"We need not endanger these citizens unduly" pointed out Lancelot in a reasonable voice
"besides... breakfast is getting cold" mused Lancelot glancing briefly at the well laid out table

((My SO and I did a bit of acting for this fight so that I knew better what Nails was trying to do and I have to say, it was fun. Also I learned my SO knows somethings about using tonfas, which is also exciting.))

Jalsinter focused on his foe as the elf continued to smash the metal tonfa against his knee-plate. She was right in that the reverberating force started to ail his leg, but his armor was well-made and custom-fitted. It would take many more strikes to make his knee buckle. "If you can find someone my size, perhaps." He teased Nails as she appraised his gear. "Better off melting it down and making better weapons than whatever those are."

The knight hardly resisted when Nails clapped her weapons around his arm and seized it. He already knew that the elf was swifter than he was, and with how he reached avoiding the attack would have been nigh impossible. The scrapper's following push was met with a healthy resistance, but not enough to stop him from stepping back against the wall. He had something besides escape in mind, anyhow.

With the added support of the wall behind him he quickly swept his leg, initially hoping to compromise the elf's balance as she closed in during the grapple. This movement was cut off half-way, however, when his comrade Lancelot and the others told them both to stop fighting. Not certain if Nails would oblige, Jal pulled his foot away to balance himself anyhow and glanced at his fellow knight before looking back at his foe and saying. "Talking it over? Seems foolish... but very well."

As long as the elf maintained the grapple he'd stand there, arm locked, waiting for her to make up her mind.

(Nice Jals! )

“Hey! Don’t you be hating on my tonfas!” Cried the elf as the knight suggested she was better off buying herself some better weapons with the potential loot she’d get from this fight. “I’m kicking your butt just fine with them, ain’t I!?” Nails shot back as she prepared herself to slam Jal against the wall and probably pin him there.

Of course she expected some resistance but she knew she had the leverage advantage now. She hit Jal against the wall despite his resistance and got ready to the follow up attack. Her foot was already being raised up to avoid the sweep to her legs when she suddenly heard Alexei telling her to stand down.

“What!? But we were just getting to the good part!” The elf almost sounded like she was whining. She wanted that armor, dang it! But she was already getting a new crew out of this so she decided not to push her luck.

“Hmph! Whatever!” She scoffed and released Jal from the arm lock. Then she went and joined the others at the table, that long rat tail hair of hers swaying as she walked.

Finally, Alexei lowered his sword, rubbing at his face now that the action was settling. This was all looking really grim. Regardless of a conversation or not, Dunsten wasn’t the type to let a fellow bandit take the fall- but Iskra wouldn’t hesitate to trade Lev’s life for Glendale. Hell, he wouldn’t have normally hesitated.

Glendale was talented and promising, he’d admit that much. So was Lev, but the boy was soft-hearted and when it came to skill, Glendale proved himself more useful. Still, the situation wasn’t so easy- Lev was part of the Right Hand for a reason. That fae blood in his veins had proved useful on more than one occasion, not to mention Iskra’s attachment to him (and though he wouldn’t admit it, Alexei saw the young man as a little brother too).

He pulled a chair over, sitting down and sighing with his head in his hands. Great, he had gotten to the talking part. Now what the hell was he supposed to do?

“A drink, please,” he waved at the barmaid, while Dunsten settled in next to Nails and Glendale. He folded his hands under his chin, glancing at Lancelot as he settled, “So I’m assuming Glendale here is speaking the truth? You’ve got Lev?”

Dunsten nudged Nails eagerly, “Good work takin- on ole armor for brains there-“ he whispered, though you could hardly call it that, “I woulda paid good money seein that through to the end.”

"That is indeed the truth of the matter... your comrade Lev has been taken as surety for your group's compliance" explained Lancelot calmly

"Not on my orders of course, but Pentre himself had him arrested and is holding him to ransom. Only the lord knight may order his release from the dungeon... where I was taking this scoundrel to. You can always come along and join him of course, cells are wide enough to fit all of you" offered Lancelot in a nonchalant tone, tucking into the food and leaving plenty to share with Jals and the others if they felt like tucking in whilst they talked

"My specific orders are actually not to lose sight of Glendale and to keep by his side at all times until we reach the dungeons. Within the week, if this prisoner is not delivered, they will proceed to execute Lev" related Lancelot calmly

"Hah! Armor for brains! I like that, mind if I use it?" Chuckled Nails as she went to sit next to Dunsten. Almost immediately, the elf reclined back, balancing her chair on the back legs whilst placing her feet up on the table. Even though she looked like she was half an inch from tumbling backwards, the elf tomboy appeared to have extremely good sense of balance and calmly leaned back and forth on her chair.

"Yeah, well, you might still get to see the end of it, depending on how this goes." Said the elf as she glanced between Alexei and Lancelot, though not without sticking her tongue out at Jal whilst crossing her eyes, ears wiggling in an obvious taunt.

"Hard pass on that, I ain't going to no dungeon." Nails caught wind of Lancelot suggesting they all accompanied him to prison. There was no way she'd got there where her face was probably in a hundred wanted posters. For now, that was all she offered as she was very smartly letting Alexei do the talking.

"Look it this way... right now... you can hardly try to rescue your friend Lev when he is locked up in the dungeons and you're roaming freely out here, at least two days away from destination..." pointed out Lancelot

"I can offer you guaranteed safe passage into the heart of the dungeons themselves, trouble free... the way out, of course, is on you. Once we reach the jail none of you is my problem any more" smiled Lancelot sipping his drink and eating into the roasted chicken drum stick

"The alternative is harder work for you... it involves having to break in by your own means... and having to break out by your own means too... I am offering half the work done, easily" grinned Lancelot as if doing them a favour by locking them up

There was a moment of hesitation. Alexei’s blue eyes picking apart Lancelot, trying to figure out his game. He supposed it really didn’t matter to him- if they were turned in, the reward money was given out. As long as they escaped after that, he really had no reason to care.

“I say deal.” Dunsten chimed in, “Ain’t the first time we’d weasel our way out of a cell.” Weasel being a very loose term for smashing half the guard’s helmets in.

“You don’t make the decisions.” Alexei said gruffly, “So, Lancelot. Say we don’t go with you, but we leave you with Glendale. What happens to Lev then?”

——————

Across town, Iskra was tucked against a wall, with the trio sent to find her having succeeded.

“So that’s the plan? Pentre?” She sniffled, tugging her furs tighter around her shoulders. She glanced out toward the street, listening for the sound of horses, “Well, we’d have to lure him out- got a plan?”

“Already ahead of ya.” Layne grinned, digging through a pouch on his side. For a man who really loved his knives, he had a true, even worse passion.

Explosives.

He produced a small jar, holding it gently between his palms, “I been working on this fer longer than I could count,” (not that such a number was high, Iskra would remind herself), “Its like that Greek fire, them sea boys use.”

Iskra’s eyes hadn’t left the street, but the smile on her face was growing worse with the passing seconds. That’d get his attention alright, there was no doubt. He’d know who to blame for that kind of destruction, “Well, I was beginning to get tired of the cold anyways.” She snatched the bottle from Layne’s open hands, standing and walking back towards the street. Just a little ways away, was a barn, and she was certain there’d be lots of dry, dry hay to light up.

"Say what!!?" Nails almost exploded out of her chair when Dunsten seemingly agreed to Lancelot's offer of going into a dungeon to rescue their friend. She knew the guy was more muscle than brain, but this was a little ridiculous.

Thankfully, Alexei was definitely the brains of the duo and he decided to approach this a little more cautiously. Nails continued to let Alexei to do the talking whilst she balanced herself on the back legs of her chair, rocking herself up and down.

"All I know is that I ain't going to no dungeon. Certainly not willingly. You guyses would need to pay me a lot of money for me to agree to any of that mess." Said Nails, and from the sound of it, it wasn't Alexei's call to make those sort of decisions. Nails was eager to meet with Dunsten and Alexei's boss. Maybe they'd be able to convince the elf to go on this reckless, dang near suicidal mission.

Jalsinter lingered by the door rather than sit; he did not know just where the conversation was going but he suspected securing their favored escape route was still somewhat useful (even if they did have those windows to turn to...) The comments made by Dunsten and Nails didn't phase him, but instead drew his mind away from the situation at hand somewhat. Words like that were familiar, if spoken with a slightly different intonation in his memories. The knight quietly lifted his head as he thought back before lowering his gaze to the gathered band again, silently swallowing his own unrelated bitterness. But he tuned in just quickly enough to hear Lancelot's continued negotiations... as well as their implications.

The knight collected his shield from the floor as the bandits discussed the terms. Nails' refusal, however, gave him an idea. Was it honorable? No. But there was perhaps only one party involved in this mess who really was honorable, and it certainly wasn't Pentre. He broke his silence. "...And if, perhaps, one were able to pay you... What would it take for you to change your mind?" He wasn't going to suggest a price just yet; he honestly wasn't sure he could pay for this. Or that these cutthroats wouldn't just take the money and run. But he had to try something.

"It's sir Lancelot du Lac to the likes of you" corrected Lancelot right away.

"If I deliver this prisoner to the dungeons, your friend Lev will live to see another day, until such time as lord knight Pentre decides otherwise. I hold no sway over the fate of prisoners, only lord knight Pentre does.

Though it is likely, your friend will be taken to a mine or quarry into a life of forced labour... or placed deeper below the dungeons into solitary heavily-guarded confinement till the end of his days" explained Lancelot making a fairly educated guess based on other prisoners of similar calibre

Dunsten snorted at the last comment, “Lev’ll outlive any guards ya-“

Alexei jabbed at his side, glaring, before turning back to Lancelot. He certainly had no intentions of spewing out that whole title, “Do tell me, Lancelot- if I could get you Sir Iskra, what’s the chance Lev would be released?” Treachery was a dangerous line to step to when someone like Dunsten was nearby- the big man seemed to puff up further, his dark eyes moving to glare at the other.

“You aren’t selling out the boss.” His voice was low and warning, a hand coming to firmly grab his shoulder. Still, Alexei wouldn’t acknowledge his gaze, keeping his focus on Lancelot alone when he addressed the other.

“You’re not involved in the decision making process. I’m thinking about how Iskra would want to handle this situation.” His tone was cool and collected, though there was a slight infliction when Dunsten’s grip tightened. Alexei smiled, “Alternatively- say our dear Sir Iskra does get her grubby little paws on your Lord Knight; perhaps a trade could be in order.”

"Uhh..." Nail's eyes widened and her pointy ears flicked in slight excitement as Jals suggested he might have enough money to buy her loyalty.

It wasn't out of the realm of possibility, and this knight did seem to fight dirtier than those that she had faced in the past. Unlike Lancelot, Jals wasn't blindly beholden to his honor and could bend rules a bit.

However, as Alexei was thinking, treachery was a dangerous game to play in the life of a rogue. Here Nails was, being give a proposition to switch to the other side right in front of her would be allies. Nails was a terribly selfish woman that would sell people out for cold hard cash. However, she also knew her limits.

As most elves, she was incredibly intelligent thanks to her longevity. Nails had seen much in her nearly 80 years of life, and though in elven terms she was essentially still a teenager, she was way older than any of the humans present. And yet, she knew that all her intellect revolved almost entirely around fighting. She was a combat wiz, a battle prodigy-- not exactly a master of doing business, but enough that she knew she shouldn't make any rash decisions right now.

"Uhh...." As Dunsten began to threaten Alexei not to sell out their boss, Nails decided that maybe she should just delay her action.

"I think I'll wait 'till I meet with this Sir Iskra character before making any decisions." The elf informed Jals.

Sir Lancelot took a deep breath.

"Iskra Sokol is by far the most notorious wrongdoer and wanted fugitive in the entire realm.
If you were to establish a trade between the captive rogue Lev and the infamous woman then I am certain that it would be a favourable and assured exchange.
Lev would be released into your care no sooner we secured the roguish woman" assured Lancelot without qualms

"On the other hand if the lord knight were to fall captive to Onyx thugs... well.. the world is their oyster.
Be it far from me to defy my superiors orders.
If that were to happen, there is a good chance the lord knight would order the prisoner released or secure a trade in exchange for his own freedom" shrugged Lancelot