Private - Blood of the Scribe (18+) | Page 2

Zelrius followed closely behind the Bloodsworn, and was quite content, the Felis seeming to get the message that he didn't want her directly up against him anymore. Though that seemed short lived, as they headed to the dock, and Kijin made quite the valid point. He closed his eyes and gave an exasperated breath. Looking back to the girl who seemed way too excited about what he said, almost as if guessing what was going to happen. She glanced back to him, clutching the now tear and snot ridden glove in one closed fist. He looked away from her, not thrilled to be doing this again, and then pulled her back against him. "You heard him," His voice was reluctant and distant. "Stay close, be quiet."

The small Felis seemed to agree to the stay close part, but not so much the latter. She began to go on a tangent of agreeing and then some story. "Y'know, this reminds me of this one time-" Her sentence cut short by a glare, not really that interested in the cat-person's long gone story from a different time. Though it brought to light a question; he wondered if the NPCs had memories from before the Players, and what that was like. Of course they did, but he wanted to know how those memories came to be. Perhaps programmed, or generated. Truth is, this was a question to ask someone else another time, knowing full well that the NPCs themselves wouldn't have the answers.

That was all dropped when they were going through the bustling crowds, the Autumn sun giving them mercy from the cold winds. Horses moved through the crowds, Familiar ones at that. On top of them, Familiar people. It seemed that his Bluff hadn't entirely worked on the Knights, they were willing to call it, just not publicly. It was a smart move, because had they called it in the open, and Zelrius had been telling the truth, they knew it would have been bad. Instead, they were playing it safe, now looking to arrest and take care of it quietly, worst case scenario, they lie to D'Vangelline, a simple "Who? Never heard of him." If she ever came asking questions.

But she wouldn't be doing that, because much to their Chagrin, Zelrius was, as the kids put it, full of shit. He pulled the Felis in front of him, putting pressure on her shoulders down and forward, an effort to force her to comply with Kijin's orders. She put up no resistance yet, just opening her mouth to ask questions. The Golden haired man didn't answer her questions of "Who, What, and Why", fearing that to tell her to shut up or to actually answer would draw more attention.

Though his attempts to avoid attention by having the two move low and fast seemed to be thwarted, as one of the Knights held up an armored finger, his head now whipping around looking for something. "Maybe the search won't be that hard," he quietly to his compatriots, spotting the trio, and then beginning to hurl towards them. "Stop right there!"

Zelrius gritted his teeth, pushing the Felis woman to the floor and then beginning to move in the opposite direction. He had hoped that the Knight never actually saw her specifically, and would instead give chase to the Swordsman. Though beyond that, he had no plan, as the Knights moved toward him with increasing pace. He'd have to catch up with her later, and only prayed that Kijin had a plan to handle pursuing knights. Much to Zelrius's luck, the Horses had to dodge through people and things, not exactly galloping, but not exactly trodding either, a nice little fast pace clop-clop, rhythmically pattering against the Docks and surrounding stone.

Hidden: OOC INFO

Kijin and I have been rolling for Outcome of events and paths of action. In this Post we rolled for:

Whether or not the group of Knights would notice Zelrius, Kijin and the Felis trying to sneak through. 50+ was they successfully snuck by,
50- was they were noticed by the Knight.
Result: 7
No Modifier was applied.
Click on the Result Number to see Screenshot Proof of Roll

 

Boards crunched beneath the heavy steps of horseback Knights as they pushed back against a frightened crowd, forcing the wall of panicked patrons back-to-the-sea. There was only one path that led to freedom, and Kijin already heard the clip clop of horsefeet hurrying to deny them. Damn them to hell.

His thoughts raced as he searched fruitlessly for another means of escape. No chariot on high would bear them hence, nor would any manner of mythical beast from the sea rise from the depths to champion their cause. He was left to find the ever fading answer on his own.

Blood trickled down from where he bit into his lip and his body trembled as adrenaline gushed throughout his form. Was this what it truly felt like to brush with death? His heart raced, but he saw everything in slow motion. It was like the universe wanted him to have one last, best chance at survival.

Just don't waste it.

Zelrius faced the threat head on, though he was fortunate that the riders were forced onto the back foot by broken boards and the heated protest of the citizenry. "You can't just treat us this way!" they called out. "We have rights too!"

"Yeah," cried another, "hang you Knights and your Nobles, if this is the way you're going to treat us!"

Kijin saw the opportunity in those words.

Terror. Instinct. Malice.

Darkness lives in the hearts of all mankind. It is the magic of the Malefimancer that slacks the chains of that which man most fears.

Himself.

Purple, black, and gray energies rippled and writhed around his hand as he channeled the corruption forth from within himself. Kijin released the humanity every other creature denied themselves, and he guided the rage of the most susceptible victim.

And the crowd loved it.

No more words came from the outspoken protestor as he launched himself, more beast than man, toward the nearest knight. The horse he sat astride took a vicious tumble, rearing backward in surprise and screaming out a mind-rending whinny that further dispersed the crowd.

"Order!" screamed another knight. "We will have order!"

But there was no one left willing to hear him.

For far too long, the people who stayed to the slums were bullied, berated, and taken for fools. With opportunity on their side, the poor folk bit back.

Their vehemence caught even Kijin off guard, and before he could take advantage of his tide-turning spell, he was knocked from the docks and plummeting, ever deeper into the depths.

Zelrius, however, had every opportunity to run- if he so chose.

 

The man dodged through barrels and boxes, his attempts to thwart the Knights seeming to be of little use. That was, until they randomly seemed to be working. With a glance back, it was quickly realized, with wide eyes, that it wasn't the random foliage of bullshit objects that was stopping the well-trained and armed Soldier. No, it was split wood and, more effectively, what appeared to be a now angry mob.

He heard the cries and exclamations, the accusations running wild as the citizenry began to rile themselves up, finding any excuse to let the hatred fester for their more Noble counterparts. This was quite the scary site; Watching the group begin to bubble up, creating their own echo-chamber as they drowned the Horsemen's words out. He was reminded of tales of Caesar and Napoleon, reminded that they had abused the power of populism such as this, to cease their own power. The man made a mental note to never forget that one ever looming threat; No matter how powerful Nobles think they are, there's a thousand peasants willing and ready to hang them.

Those thoughts were quickly shattered as the man glanced around the boards and roads of the dock, looking for something that seemed off. And he found it, The Bloodsworn. Not only did he find the dark haired man, Zelrius also found the reason Malefimancy was forbidden; this was the perfect example. It had the power to twist the minds and hearts of men, to allow negative emotions to fester, to allow power to easily be shifted from one person to the next, as the caster saw fit. This was a threat to status quo, and there was no way the higher class was having that. It all made a lot more sense to the man.

As the Knight screamed for the crowd to settle down, they surged forth, knocking Kijin from his spot, and then seemingly maul the Knights to pieces. All except a few, their anger confusing them more than turning them against the horsemen, and once the source of it was gone, those who were confused began to flea in fear. Zelrius was one of those people, but another was the small Felis girl who had been their informant thus far. With a deft mind, and quick feet, the Nobleman readjusted his Scabbard belt, rushing forward to embrace her, and pushing her off to side, rather than down the street and back into the crowded street.

This move was done in accordance with one thing; He remembered Kijin's plan, hoping to meet him down in the Sewers eventually, now forcing the Felis with him, even as she kicked and struggled away from him, screeching for him to let her go. He held on, not ready to let her be hunted in the city, and now pushing both her and himself down a manhole into the dark cholera-passages below. Quickly, the Golden haired man continued to force them away from the open cover and further into the latrine hallways, until they were a few corners away, eventually letting her go.

Quickly the woman backed up, her voice raised. "You pushed me to the ground! Used me as bait so that YOU could get away! And now you've got us trapped! They're going to kill us!" She continued to shout and yell throughout her speech, Zelrius' patience already wearing thin from the scratch marks now along his arms, left by her nails, and his clothes being quite dirtied by today's events. So, with contempt plaguing his voice and an air of Wroth being met, he stormed at the girl in stomps, now towering over her. This prompted her to shrink and mewl quietly, now feeling threatened by the taller human. " I pushed you to the ground to conceal you. They'd have hunted you down and gutted you like a frog, dumbass." He voice was eerily calm, though his stare was intense, and his body language screamed anger. "This is where we were headed, I just have to meet back up with Kijin. Be a good girl, and Shut. The. Fuck. Up. Or I will carry you to them myself. You forget, They'll execute us both; but I respawn."

That sentence alone pushed her to quietness, the Felis never really being a fighter with words or weapons, silently resigned to obey him for the moment, as her head hung to the floor in shame, a bit of that anger now being directed at herself in hatred, for being so weak, both mentally and physically.

Zelrius cooled off at her submission, now backing away and taking a few moments to compose himself, chin meeting hand as he began to contemplate what to do now, where to go, or how even to continue this investigation, the want to call it quit and just go hide in Brisshal until things calmed down beginning to rise in him.

 

Quite the racket above Morna in the city. She could hear it through the pipes. Traveling a fair bit of distance to her. Morna knew that it was quite some ways away. However, the racket that was being caused was way to loud for just someone stealing food, or being a rowdy drunkard. Shaking her head, Morna stood up from where she sat, and sheathed her weapon from its cleaning. She hadn't used it, but she still practiced good habits of cleaning the blade considering the environment.

The singing of metal on leather was clear if anyone was in the sewers. However, Morna doubted it since nobody who wasn't trying to get away from something, or couldn't find a home lived here. However, she did want to find out why there was so much noise. Jogging in the direction of the loudest echoes that ran through the walls, she made her way to what would be considered right underneath the people as they seemed to be having a little quarrel with something, or there was a massive sale. No clue, and would likely never find out. Considering that the hatch opened up, and down came some feet.

Morna used the distraction and the noises of the loud crowd just above to scoot back around the corner. Slowly and quietly as possible. Keeping her head out to peek around the corner, she saw what could only be a player, easy to tell from the gear he wore, and what looked to be an npc? Not sure if this other female was a player in costume, or an NPC. However, it was clear they were running from something with the amount of haste that was behind the man's movements.

Morna waited for the man to move. Luckily he went the other direction than that of Morna. Thus, she slowly followed them. Making sure to step on the more dry parts of the ground, than that of the sewage. It was after a few short turns of following them, that they stopped. Only noticeable by the almost shrieking of the female. She was brought down here and was being hunted down like the man was.

Strange. Why were they being hunted, and why did they come down here? Even more so, the man threatened to take them back up and both die, and have himself respawn. Even so, Morna found it kind of funny that the two were running. Even the potential meet up with someone else. Stepping out from her corner, she came behind the man, and her footfalls were quite easily detectable.

"You both don't have to die. The sewers are a good place to hide if you are trying to get away from the nobles or the knights. They don't tend to come down here."

Even with that thought, Morna pulled out a small candle. Lighting it so that they could have some form of light in here. About the best you got after that were the grates, and the piss vents. Morna wasn't all too trusting of them, but she has been on the run many times before, and so helping someone else get away, when she didn't get help would only be the right thing to do.

"Look, I don't care who you are or what you did, but when you are alone and hardly anything goes your way, its sometimes good to have and extra blade."

Morna pulled her hair out of her face. Her face looked repetitively unblemished except for imperceptible tattoos upon her body. When using her powers, they would reveal themselves, but otherwise, she looked like a normal human being. The Red eyes were a little strange though. Being a little more vocal than she normally was, she opted to help someone when no one would help her.

"You needed to meet up with someone? I know most of the sewers and where they lead, so I could take you to places that this Kijin may be."

That was mostly the truth. She knew the upper layers of the sewers. It was just a first layer of the city. Morna knew that there was more below, but wasn't sure what it was, or if there was anything even there. maybe just more sewers that lead to the nearest body of water, or that lead out to waste piles. Either way, anything on the top surface was fair game.

 

Zelrius contemplated in frustration for what seemed to both him and his felis compatriot as forever. He stopped for a moment to gaze around the area, trying to get any semblance of a plan together. So far, unlike the sewers, he was coming up dry, and how no idea what it was he was doing. The man had never been in the sewers; he saw it as beneath him. Which was odd, given he wasn't even of that high of Status here in Falderen, and especially not in the real world. He was a gas station clerk out in the real world; A highschool hasbeen with a deadwife.

Those thoughts clouded his mind instead of making a real plan, prompting him to open his inventory and hover over the Log out button until he heard footsteps. But by the time he heard them, whoever it was was around the corner. Within an instant, Zelrius had his blade drawn, yanking the girl by the collar and then throwing her behind him. She hit the ground with a thud and a groan of pain. This prompted the thought that he'd have to actually sit down and talk to her later, being plagued by the guilt that he and Kijin had kind of been abusing her up to this point.

Before he could even ask who was there, what appeared to be a woman began to speak, and then lit a candle. It was clear part way into her monologue that she was friendly, atleast toward them and atleast for the moment. He scanned the woman for a moment, strangely she seemed to be the exact type to inhabit Sewers and know her away around the underbelly, but didn't speak like it. Quite the opposite of Kijin, who talked like a criminal but presented himself as a man of higher class. Correction; He talked like an educated Western Mobster. Same thing in essence, different in sophistication.

Zelrius nodded slowly at her final question, though he wasn't going to divulge too much information. "Yes, I believe we are looking for a inner group down here. A Guild if you will, would you perhaps know anything about something to that sort?" Though to be honest, Zelrius wasn't expecting trust from this woman. Because despite her tattoos and nice hair, The nobleman probably looked like the more untrustworthy one. His face was caked in dirt, his clothes were getting ragged and his sleeves were torn in places from the struggle to get the Felis to comply. The Handkerchief he kept around his collar was barely hanging on, and his hair was disheveled, a detail that he clearly made no attempt to fix, at all.

"Lead the way, if that is the case," He ended with, praying upon praying in his mind that she wasn't going to lead them into a trap and mug them. Not that it honestly mattered at this point, he'd just choose to respawn in that Inn in Brisshal, and live quietly there for a bit if she found a way to kill them.