[RP] The Deal

Moderator: Community Team

Post Reply
Spear

[RP] The Deal

Post by Spear »

It was a closed night, enshrouded in that kind of darkness that’s hard to pierce with light. The kind that makes people raise lanterns above their heads and squint, hoping the rustling they heard was just another stray cat on the street. Moonlight hidden under clouds, blessing the creatures of the world beneath with a rain of sweet tempting secrets.

- They call me Spear. - He answered.

No light came in through the windows of the small tavern. The half-orc was comfortably seated in a creaky wooden chair, squarely opposed to his interlocutor. They both sat around the same round table, one of the half a dozen strewn around the poorly lit locale. The man, if he even called himself that, fired him a grin from a sharp, angled face. The purple hue of his skin, the dark horns tapering towards the back of his head revealing a heritage no less foreign than his own.

- Spear, hm? - He pondered, leaning forwards to rest his elbows on the table. - I think you know I’m looking for a weapon. I think you’re looking for a job.

- What a coincidence.

He smiled back at the criminal, secretly glad to have found him so quickly. A strange silence spread through the tavern slow and thick, like butter melting under the sun. Spear didn’t need to look around to notice a few heads turning around him. Instead he admired the dagger buried in the table between them, its sharp edge picking up the dancing shine of the fireplace. A pretty brutal version of a reservation plaque.

- I think I’m in. - The green one continued. - We’re doing it tonight.

All the signs were there, and they couldn’t have asked for a better night to strike. It was obvious that any decision taken there had been decided long ago. None of them crooks and cutthroats were new in the business. None of the scars, hoods and hanging steel leaving place to doubt. They wasted no words and shook each other’s hand.
Spear

Re: [RP] The Deal

Post by Spear »

- Halt.

Spear walked down the middle of the deserted road, arm raised commanding the attention of the incoming cart. The wooden vehicle wheeled in, hinges screeching to a painful stop. What had been for the last moment a progressive crescendo of hoove clatter suddenly turned into a neigh of frustration as the animal’s bite was pulled in.

- What in the… - A bearded frown looked down on him as the driver came out of a bundle of furs. - Who are you?

- Night guard! - Answered the half orc, projecting his voice through the chill air. Simple lies were always easier to believe. - Please come down and state your business, master trader.

Guard speech didn’t usually get more elaborate than that. Stating his name and position would have been strange unless asked to, and a longer sentence would have detracted from the confidence that came with authority. Spear waited for the groveling man to descend, the textbook definition of middle aged sour individual, and walked with him silently around the cart.

- Here it is. Night creeped up on us fast, but it’s all empty barrels and chair frames. - The driver led him towards the back, a slight hint of hesitation in his eyes. - Boring enough to travel safely.

- Certainly. Would you please uncover the back of the cart now?

What happened next happened fast. A chain reaction of violent impulses set themselves off in a split second, as if triggered by the half orc’s words. Instead of the old man, someone else’s hand dragged the curtain open wildly from the inside, revealing the crafted arc of a wooden crossbow aimed towards his chest. Perhaps looking for the stopping power of a hit into his center of gravity, or perhaps simply expecting a target of lower height.

It didn’t matter. From the darkness behind Spear an arrow sang and cut the air. It sunk deep into the secret occupier’s eye - By the disturbing sound of it splintering hard against his brains and the back of his skull. The half orc’s reaction, on the other hand, wasn’t less brutal. There was no time to be relieved by the accuracy of his companion. He stroke hard, landing a reactive punch on the driver’s throat. Before he could gasp for air or scream for aid, the same arm followed through and wrapped around his neck. A hard yank and he fell sprawling lifeless on the ground.

- Clean. - He muttered with a dash of sarcasm.

Dark figures approached, coming out of the shadows that had cloaked them.
Spear

Re: [RP] The Deal

Post by Spear »

The drum hummed from the shadowed corners of the dark tavern. Rhythms from strange lands of fantasy repeating themselves like an endless fractal, like the heartbeat of some mythical beast. Coarse tensed skin vibrated against the palming of heavy hands. Yet nobody paid attention to the drummer. Black, sensual, the figure of an elven female dominated the locale that night. Red, translucent silks danced in the air as she spun and twisted to the wordless music. Revealing, just barely, hints of the underworld beauty’s obsidian skin as it sway.

- So you got it, I take it.

A familiar voice slithered at Spear’s side as the horned criminal sat at his side. His gaze fell on him, distracted from the captivating spectacle that kept the gang entranced. It was his own dagger that pierced the table then. A simple instrument, with an edge as sharp as blunt was his purpose.

- Yes. - He answered, remembering the assault. - It’s done.

The half orc’s eyes travelled the room, recognizing some of the criminals that were part of it all. The keen archer was there, gloved hands nursing an amber drink. The sorcerer that had consumed all evidence in a bonfire of lightless flame now slouched comfortably on his chair, nothing about his expression betraying the horrifying nature of his acts. After all, it was just another night of work. Deliver, get paid. A simple truth, and yet something didn’t sit right on his mind.

- There’s something you should know. - He added finally, handing over the prize to his employer. - I know this thing. It was part of the cargo we were moving, part of what the captain was planning to sell before we shipwrecked on the bravian coast. What is it?

Spear took out a small velvet bag from a pocket on his chest, and gently opened it up over the table. What rolled out was a strange jewel, a perfect cube. It was almost clear, reflecting the candlelight like solid ice. But there was something disturbing about its presence. Something about it made it obvious to the eye, even in the dimly lit tavern. The tiefling quickly reached to cover it back.

- It’s something that will give us leverage in the days to come. - A smile washed away his worry as he pocketed it discreetly. - Something that could mean your ship’s fate wasn’t really an accident.

The half orc steeled his gaze, curious. What kind of artifact was that? How could something so small be worth so many lives? He didn’t know what to think, his own confusion wrapped around the music, head full with the events of that night. Unburdened by his capture, he retrieved his knife and returned it to its sheath.

- I like you. - The hellish leader grinned back at Spear's silence. - Stay around and I’ll tell you more.
Spear

Re: [RP] The Deal

Post by Spear »

It was early afternoon when he woke up the next day. Warm sun rays blasted through half open windows, leaving a breezy tingle across his skin. The only thing ruining the feeling was the coarseness of his dry mouth, and he sat up on the bed to fill an empty cup with water. He had probably drank too much last night. Again. Thirst quenched, the foreign half orc abandoned his drink nearby. There was no time to waste… And he apparently wasn’t the only one to think so. A dark pair of long, sensual legs sleepily wrapped around his waist, nothing but a wordless invite to return to bed.

He was definitely late when he finally entered the tavern, and every other member of the ragtag bunch sat already there proved it. The interior seemed somehow even less welcoming than before, daylight revealing halfway hidden scratches and stains he hadn’t really paid attention to yet. If an inconspicuous citizen had accidentally stepped inside and seen the sort of people gathered there, he would have stepped out twice as fast as he came in.

It was a very particular grim sight. Clad in ragged cloaks of once-upon-a-time bright colours, all sorts of shady creatures stood around a circle on the ground. Daggers, swords and clubs hung from the hips of most, their outlines sticking to the dress with a slight draft. It wasn’t uniform, in any way, and yet there was a sense of belonging in the patched up manner of the chaotic vestments. Spear was sure that day they were proving a point. Whatever they were hitting later that night was a public statement.

- Approach the circle now, please. - The sorcerer’s voice silenced the others. Studied, articulated, only allowing itself a hint of his accent as a wink of hometown pride. - See you on the other side.

The half orc wished he had arrived earlier and had a chance to learn the plan. For some reason nobody seemed to mind his arrival, and a hand pressed on his shoulder as people started to walk towards the middle of the room. Those were hardened criminals, not the kind of men and women to explain things to stragglers. And one after the other, they vanished. No flashes of light or bursts of sparks, they were gone as a blink. It was subtle, dark magic that didn’t crave the cheering of a crowd.

And well, he wasn’t going to give up. Decided, motivated, he headed towards their next task with steel hearted determination.
Spear

Re: [RP] The Deal

Post by Spear »

They poured as a fountain with rising whispers of unsheathed steel, flowing quickly, never stopping once their feet hit the floor. A knot got tied in his stomach while he followed through, uncomfortable under the strings of dark magic and not too distant perhaps from that brief feeling of alarm when going down a step you hadn’t noticed was there. The half orc raised his sight, one more of the pack, taking on the detail of his surroundings.

It was a beautiful garden, luscious and colorful with vibrant flowers of species he had never seen before. A small piece of paradise beneath an imposing manor house that looked both towards the mountains and the coast. The warm air, the further landscape evidenced they were still in the Bravian republic, but he couldn’t point out where.

Shouts and screams broke his line of thought. His group of criminals spread towards the house with a manner closer to an ant colony than to the tactics of a trained warband. But damned be him if it wasn’t efficient. Multiple bodies hit the floor in close succession with deafened thuds. Limbs and blades swept across the field, lethal, a razor wind of death reaping any life standing on its path.

Hellish violence followed, carrying him with the tide. He strode into the building with his dagger out, sharpened focus finding his target. The half orc squeezed immediately into the middle of the fray, where some of the locals had parapeted themselves under torn furniture. One of them, yelling for his life, ran at him as soon as he took a corner down the hallway. A middle aged man, holding a rapier too long to be useful in the tight space. The battle of reflexes didn’t end well for him. In a single thrust, holding onto his armed limb as the rapier struck air at his side, Spear sunk his dagger up under his jaw. Skewered, bleeding to death, he slid lifeless off the blade and fell.

The whoosh of an unseen second strike almost ended his stroke of luck. A new opponent swung an improvised club, made with something that looked like a torn chair leg, against the wall in a cloud of splinters. Spear shifted, stepping away a fraction of a second before the reverse blow crashed against the opposite corridor wall. The third strike was a long thrust towards his center of mass, impossible to dodge. The half orc took it hard, feet sliding backwards, holding onto the wooden shaft. Pain irradiated his body from the impact and air blasted out of his lungs but momentum kept him going with the attack. Yanking the weapon back with his free hand, driving his dagger deep into the chest of the man attached.

Too much momentum, too hard. The dying human crashed against him and for a while it all was black.
Spear

Re: [RP] The Deal

Post by Spear »

- The poor bastard might still live to regret this.

A muted voice echoed through the darkness. He couldn’t tell where it was coming from, or whom it belonged to. He couldn’t move, not even to open his eyes. Something told him deep inside that only pain awaited beyond, on the other side. That it was not the right layer of existence to join at that moment. Spear was adrift in a black weightless sea, spinning sickly in an endless, lightless expanse.

- Don’t be that dramatic. There’s no way that blood is his, or he would be long gone by now. And orc blood doesn’t look like that anyway.

- Ha. - A snarl echoed. - As if you knew, come on.

- Just shut up, will you. Let’s just dump him for the captain to play with.

He didn’t really notice at what point he stopped following the conversation. It seemed to drag on forever, a pointless discussion born of the need to pass the time and vent some worries more than serving any kind of natural purpose. It wasn’t long until the darkness took him again, drowning him in dreams of violence and blades. Of long forgotten pasts, of promising futures and shared nights. Sweet hope and sour despair. Eventually, not even dreams cut through the darkness and he passed out.

There was no way of saying how long it had been when the half orc’s consciousness came about. This time his eyes opened wide, gasping in a deep breath that faded away in torn rasping coughs. He was sitting, tied onto a heavy chair. His arms set, wrapped under iron chains at his sides, hugging the wide semicircle that acted as an armrest. The air around him was thick, damp, evidencing the dungeon like environment his adapting eyesight quickly confirmed. Hunger and thirst clawed inside him like a frenzied beast.

- Spear, I take it. - An echoed voice surrounded the prisoner while someone walked through a heavy creaking door behind him. It dragged and spun, weaving the hateful notes of self pleasing sarcasm. - Interrogations were more challenging before mind readers were around. Magic has a way of making everything superfluous, don’t you think?
Post Reply