Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Haunted Beauty and Violent Men (1x1)

(1x1 with Olthain)

Gwenithar stood at the door to the house, her hand reluctant to do her mind's bidding. Just a knock. A knock was all she needed. Her hand lifted quicker than she expected as she caught sight of shadows moving. They were at it again, following her, trying to stifle every attempt of getting help that she tried. She knocked rapidly at the door and glanced around. Then she knocked again, hoping the man would answer before she was whisked away. "Hello? Is anyone home?"
Fear struck her suddenly. What if he WASN'T home? What if he was gone on some journey? She took in a deep breath. She would wait just a minute longer. That was all she could afford to wait.

Caelius heard the first knock, but he chose to ignore it. He really didn't feel like being disturbed. The second knock, obviously more urgent, came soon. He rolled his eyes and put his beer down, getting up from his chair.
"coming!" He yelled. Caelius walked to the door and opened it. He looked down at the small frame of a young woman, but before he could study her, he noticed movement in the corner of his eyes.
He didn't turn to face it, and instead stepped aside.
"Get in."
He closed the door behind her.

Gwenithar didn't hesitate as she was invited in. She quickly stepped inside, sighing softly in relief as he closed the door behind her. Safe. Kind of. She looked at him now, carefully investigating the man that she was about to bargain with. "Caelius Strongarm?" It had to be him, no one else would fit the definition, or notice the demons that were waiting for her. "My name is Gwenithar. I have business to discuss with you."

"And I suppose your so-called 'business' is waiting outside?" he asked. Sighing, he dropped back into his chair. He took another gulp from his beer as he relaxed, showing no obvious worry about the darkness at his doorstep. He motioned her to sit down in a chair in front of him. He had one eyebrow raised as he was awaiting her reply.

Gwenithar nodded and took a seat as he gestured, smoothing out her skirt a little. She wasn't dressed in anything fancy, but at least her dress was clean. "In a way. Yes. I don't know why, but I've been haunted by demons. I have come to ask for your services in getting rid of them." She looked at him calmly, then glanced at the door. "I thought perhaps they might leave me alone after a while, but they aren't. It's getting dangerous. I heard about a man who could conquer demons and destroy great men, so...I came here."

Caelius nodded and just Stared at her for a while. "And what kind of Demons are we talking about here? He Inquired. "After all, he wasn't planning on taking on a Demon Lord on his own. As if he was a gentleman, he reached out the mug of beer for her. "Want some?"

Gwenithar stared at him for a few moments, then shook her head. "No thank you. As far as I can tell, it is a small group of minor demons. I don't know yet if it's anything more. I don't try to be around them, obviously." She looked away nervously for a moment, then looked back to him. "We have the topic of payment to address as well. But is there anything that we need to discuss before then?" She couldn't give him much info on the demons, she obviously tried to stay away as much as she could because they would hurt her otherwise.

Caelius shook his head. "Nope, not really." To his luck (whether it was good luck or bad luck, he wasn't sure) he had seen enough demons to be able to figure out how to get rid of them. After all, he had very few contracts where the client knew much about his or her assailants. A pity in his opinion, he found demons quite interesting as they were nearly never the same.

"Concerning the price, I am going to assume you have no coins on you." He sighed. "Deducting from your looks, that is." She looked like a person with money, but had either lost it or spent it all. "How were you thinking of paying me?"

Gwenithar hesitated for a moment as he mentioned price. She took in a deep breath and let it out. "You are correct. I don't have any money." She only had nice clothes because she'd worked hard just to buy them so she wouldn't look like a street rat upon coming to him. "I will pay you with my servitude. One year for every demon you kill on my behalf. I can cook, clean, wash laundry, and do whatever else you require or wish. You don't even have to acknowledge I'm here, I will be no trouble to you at all. You just need to keep the demons away from me."

Caelius looked around. While his house could use some good cleaning, he was hesitant. He put his beer down and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his hands. The man looked straight at Gwenithar. "So basically what you're asking telling me is that you'll bring all demons to my house?" he asked seriously.

Gwenithar shook her head. "I'm sure that once you kill the small group that is after me, I won't be bothered any longer by them. I mean, the tales of your strength and your battles hasn't spread only in the human realm, but the demons know of you too. That's why they didn't attack while I was on your doorstep. They are afraid of you. Once you kill the group that is after me, I am sure that the others won't get anywhere near here." She looked right back at him. "And you can still travel, as much as you need. I can stay here and keep the house if you wish, or if you want me to come along to cook you meals and such, I can do that as well. Whatever you would like me to do, that is what I will do."

Caelius smiled. "Smart girl. But I doubt that it'll stay with the little group outside. The occasional little lordling tends to have a shot at me." He remained silent of his battle with a demon lord once. If she hadn't heard about it then she didn't need to. "Demons don't give up easy."

Gwenithar took in a deep breath. "You never know, it might. I mean, I'm nobody of importance. I don't know why they're attacking me. Maybe it's just because I'm poor and they figured I was a perfect target since I didn't have anyone to help me. They didn't expect me to come to you, because I have no money. But I'm sure that now that I'm with you, they'll go away. I mean, they haven't bothered me since I got here. So surely they won't bother me once you show them that you'll kill any of them that tries to attack me again. They'll find someone else to torment."

Caelius sighed. "Fine. But don't underestimate them, they will await their chance." He wasn't out to scare her, but neither was he that person who masked or even hid the truth. That would only lead to more trouble than necessary. "You can stay. there's a bedroom next to the stairwell for you to use. My bedroom is upstairs, should you need me for something. Ya can't miss it."

Gwenithar sighed in relief. "Thank you." She bowed her head and then stood up. "What would you like me to do first, sir?" She waited for her first order, or dismissal, or whatever he wanted. She was just glad he had accepted her terms. "I will not underestimate them, I promise." She hoped he was wrong, though. She didn't want the demons troubling her at all anymore.

Caelius frowned. "How about starting to stop calling me sir? It sounds far to Lordly to my liking. Just call me Caelius, that works fine by me."
He got up from his chair. Just as he heard that, a loud noise sounded, as a heavy object smacked into the thick wooden door. The Mercenary rolled his eyes.
"I hate their provocative behaviour." he scowled, Grabbed his Greatsword and went for the door.

He just stood their until the next clash came. He opened the door and in one fluent movement swung his sword outside one-handed. The massive Greatsword suddenly stopped and something squealed. An little demons shed his cloak of invisibility as it died on his Greatsword. He kept silent and heard tiny feet running away fast, disappearing behind the corner. The man sighed. He walked back in and closed the door.
He grabbed the dead demon's neck and pulled him off the sword. He looked at Gwen. "This is what's after you?" he asked, as he held the critter up for her to see.

Gwenithar gave a quick nod. "Yes. I'm sorry, Caelius." She jumped slightly at the object that hit the door, taking a step back. When he slayed a creature right in front of her, her eyes were wide as he held it up. "Y...yes. Those things." She was eyeing the creature as if it might start writhing with life again and try to come at her. She was terrified of them, but it was a terror that was understandable given what she'd already suffered at their hands. "You make it seem so easy."

"There's nothing difficult about these if you have even a slight bit of experience." He replied. "Hang around long enough and you'll be fending these little critters off on your own soon enough." He walked over to the window, opened it, and threw him out. The creature hit the ground and remained silent. The mercenary closed the window again.

"Here's a job, you can get me my cleaning stuff from the closet over there so I can clean this blood off." he grinned. "Unless you'll volunteer to do so."

Gwenithar highly doubted she'd be able to fend them off by herself. They tended to attack her in groups, and sneakily. And she didn't have a big sword like he did. When he gave her a job to do, she quickly went to get his cleaning things from the closet, though it took her a moment to find where the closet was. "If you show me how to now, I can clean it later when the need comes." She handed him the cleaning things. Blood definitely wasn't her favorite thing, but she was working for him now. She was probably going to have to get used to it.

"It's pretty simple." Caelius replied as he took the stuff from her. He sat down on a stool and Put the tip of the Large sword on the ground, then rested his against his shoulder. He took a small bottle And held it up for Gwen to see. "Best soap you'll find for blood. Well not really soap, more like a fluid used to clean swords." He poured some onto the blade just above the bloodstain. He took a cloth and started washing it across the blood.

"Demon blood," he said as he was working. "Is probably the toughest to work with. it sticks, it dries fast, and it weakens the blade." He showed her the blades edges, which were shining more than the center of the Steel. "It's been treated by the Blacksmith I ordered this with. The blood won't stick on it, so the blade won't go dull as I'm fighting. The center however," He put some force on the washcloth as he tried to wash away a particular tough spot. "Isn't treated as such. The blood sticks to it and weakens the blade. That's why we have to clean the blade after every fight with a demon. If the center of the blade gets too weak, it'll give way and the Greatsword will break. That's the last thing I need in the middle of a fight."