Fantasy A Nation In Havoc (2.0)

[augmentedspartan]

Lewis was a very particular dwarf, both in looks and mannerism. Formal and spotless clothing, as well as rounded reading glasses, weren't very common with dwarfs, but Lewis donned them every day. He liked to act and look professional. He wasn't a workaholic, contrary to what people believed, he just liked to be effective, even if he didn't particularly have much passion for the job. This was probably why Ambrose allowed him so many responsibilities, that and the fact that he didn't pry where he didn't need to.

Being very much a regular he was accustomed to the chaos and movement of the locale, he darted quickly and effectively in between the taller patrons' legs, writing rapidly on a small notebook. Surprisingly, the illicit transport of dead, and sometimes non-dead, bodies was in high demand, and Ambrose held the monopoly of the business. Lewis didn't know how he had done such, and had never asked, but judging by the gossip that went around, it had been through rather unsavory means. He didn't care much for that, though; a job was a job, and he always did his job properly, always.

Having taken a seat on one of the few unoccupied tables, he always found it easier to organize his notes when still, he recognized a particular elf walking into The Den. "Mr. Kro Lo," he called out, once he was in reach. "Am I right to infer that you're here for business?" He didn't see Kruziik around the place much, and Lewis was there most of the time, save for the occasions in which he needed something and Ambrose shut the door on his face. Those two seemed to always go hand in hand.

TheCountryWarrior

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Kruziik walked into the delightful chaos of The Den, and surveyed the crowd. It was your regular group of shady characters who either had good reason to lay low from the law, or soon would. He recognized several regulars, mostly Goblins that nodded with respect towards him and his deeds for Goblinkind. He also waved to Skulldug who didn't wave back, standing like a statue that served drinks, but Kruziik waved anyway. The Den, in his opinion, was a much better place than other inns and taverns, mostly due to the rustic and violent aura of the place. He could still smell blood in the air, and see scorch marks on the wall. This place was awesome.

Hearing his name called, he looked towards the sound and made eye contact with a bespectacled Dwarf that fit the description given by his Goblins. Even though a description was unnecessary because he's been here before. This was Lewis, Ambrose's right hand man. Taking a seat he nodded once. "That's me. Good to see you Lewis. Ready for business?"

augmentedspartan

 

[augmentedspartan]

"Always am." Lewis finished writing something down, and flipped several pages until finding the right one. To an outsider, his notes would look convoluted and disorganized, but he was very specific in the way he wrote things and could decipher his writing very easily. Some thought that this was his way to keep nosy people from peeking into Ambrose's operations, although he refused to comment on it.

"Tell me then, what is it that you need?" Generally, he liked to list off the information he needed: number of bodies, alive or dead, state of decay, maximum amount of damage, and then let the client ask for any other specific request, any other information was superficial; if it wasn't important for the state of the cargo, he didn't care. From Kruziik, however, he simply went to the point. The man knew well enough how this worked.

TheCountryWarrior

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

Decius had finished his ale and started to get hungry. Saving his stomach for a bigger dinner, he asked Skulldug of the type of snacks they have. "So what kind of food do you sell here?" "Skulldug" he said, shrugging his shoulders. Decius let out a long sigh, realising again that the orc cannot speak the common tongue. He then asked, "Just get me something sweet, alright?" He then placed 10 silver coins on the counter, all of which the orc took. He knew that what he had bought was worth less but the orc would not pass up on free silver for himself. And things like honour and integrity were things that had no place in this bar.

The orc had given him a plate of plums. They were dried, pitted and...well something was done to them. Decius did not know. But he was sure that it made the plums extra sweet. He then started to eat them one by one, further satisfying his sweet tooth. He liked all flavours except bitter really, with the favourite being a tie between sour and savoury. But he felt like he wanted to eat something sweet at that moment. The aroma of the plums, did well in terms of hiding the wretched stench of the alcohol. Now somebody would have to be right up against him, breathing in directly from his mouth in order to smell it. Decius was completely oblivious to this fact however, as he did not care for how he was perceived to other people. At least not at that moment.

In the corner of his eye, he spotted a very peculiar looking figure. A tall man who seemed to be an elf. But his skin tone made it very difficult for Decius to pin down exactly what race he could be. His best guess was that he was some sort of half-goblin and half-elf. What he really wondered was what he was doing here. This sort of place was really for the psychopaths and the wretched of the city. Why would someone dressed as well as he is, almost as royalty, be in this place? Decius had been serving Dalania his whole life, but he learnt new things every hour almost. It seemed like anybody came to this place if they wanted to deal with anything remotely suspicious. Decius continued eating his plums before continuing to think. He figured that the plums were here for the rich folk like that man. Otherwise such fancy sweet treats would have no place in here. He saw him sit down to meet with another gentleman. But by that time his interest had wained.

Afterwards, he left "The Den" and returned to the previous tavern he had ruined last night. After doing so, he asked for dinner and wanted to stay in the same room as he had done before. He assured the owner that he would not cause as much havoc as last night. He then sat down, waiting for his meal.

 

[MagicPenguin]

The Lazy Fox, Day Three, One Hour Before Sunrise

It was a bit earlier than she usually woke, but Raimi was too excited to sleep any longer. She'd never been to a festival before. She sat in the empty common room and tried to imagine what it would be like, but it was so far outside her realm of experience that she didn’t know what to imagine.

A plate of eggs, bacon, and potatoes appeared on the table before her. She looked up and saw the innkeeper from the night before. She gave him a quizzical look; she hadn’t expected the man to be up at this hour, let alone making breakfast.

“Go ahead. I heard you come down and I couldn’t sleep anyway, so I whipped something up for you. It's the least I could do for my poor service last night. I don’t know what came over me. Name's George, by the way.”

“Thanks. Mighty nice of you. I’m Raimi,“ Rae replied with a sunny smile as she dug in to her plate.

“You know,” she said as she ate, “this inn has almost the same name as the one I usually stay at, The Brazen Fox, and… “ she squinted her eyes to get a better look at him in the darkness “…you even kinda look like the guy who runs the place now that I get a better look at you. Funny coincidence, huh?”

He snorted. “Not so funny as you might think. The man who runs your Brazen Fox is my older brother. Inns kind of run in the family, ever since my great grandfather opened up the Golden Fox in Dalania 100 years ago. I’ve got more aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews than I can count and all of us run inns in the city named after foxes. It’s the sort of thing only locals would really know about.”

He stopped for a moment and glanced at a door in the corner of the room that Rae assumed led to a cellar. As he did, he continued, “Of course, none of my family members have to worry about running an inn AND dealing with the sorts of things I do…”

“Huh? You got rats down there or something?”

He laughed out loud. “Let's just say it's hard to find good help in this city that won't bring all kinds of trouble to your doorstep.” He stopped suddenly and cast a furtive glance around the room, as if he were scared someone was listening. “Hm. Probably said too much. Do me a favor and forget I said anything about it, would you?”

“Forget you said anything about what?” Rae asked with a playful smirk. She WAS curious, but it was impolite to pry.

George gave her a grin and an approving grunt and changed the subject. “Good lass. So, Miss Raimi, are you excited for the festival today?”

“Sure am! Never been to one before. What’s the big occasion, anyway?”

“Well, back in antiquity, so long ago even my great grandfather‘s great grandfather wouldn’t have remembered it, they say a mighty, red-haired heroine slew a massive dragon and the dark demon lord who rode it. Story goes he ruled what’s now Dalania with an iron fist; demanded maidens for sacrifice, ate smallfolk, murdered innocents, all that scary business. Well, this heroine wasn’t having any of that, so the legend goes she took her legendary sword and cut the demon and his dragon down and ended his tyrannical rule once and for all. They say she built this city over top of their remains and became queen. Her lineage became the Davion line, the ancestors of the very royal family that rules here today. The Founder's Festival comes once a year to honor the heroine’s deeds and to celebrate her founding of the Kingdom of Dalania.”

He shrugged. “No idea if any of that’s true, but that’s the story behind this festival, anyhow. They’ll parade the royal family and half their court all through the streets for the first half of the day and then the second half everyone’ll head to the tourney grounds north of the castle where commoners and knights alike will demonstrate their loyalty and courage to the crown. There’s a joust, a melee, and an archery competition with fat purses for all the winners.

He eyed the hunting bow slung casually on Raimi's back with amusement. “Maybe you should enter, lass. Might be you’ll show all those snotty knights and nobles a thing or two,” he said with a chuckle.

Raimi thought about it. She wasn’t interested in jousts or melees, but her archery skills were fearsome to behold. She’d been using a bow since she was five years old and her natural skill was only honed exponentially by all the time she spent alone in the forest hunting game. She was confident she could give any archer in this city a run for their money.

“Maybe I will enter, George. Besides the prize money, people would fall all over themselves to buy my wares tomorrow if I won. “ And, she didn’t say, she’d never have to sell her bows to a merchant again; who wouldn’t buy a bow from the archery champion of Dalania's Founder's Festival?

Rae finished her meal and thanked George for his hospitality. “I wanna catch a good spot for the royal procession before the streets get too crowded. Thanks for everything, George. Maybe we’ll meet again sometime.”

“Hope so, lass. Good luck out there today.”

The sun was just starting to poke above the distant horizon as she stepped out of the inn. She decided to leave her horse and cart here for the day and come back for them later. She’d just go on foot for the parade. She made her way to the front of the castle gates where the crowd was beginning to thicken in anticipation of the parade. She found herself a good vantage point and settled in to wait for the royal procession to come marching out of the gate.

Randomfella

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Kruziik stared with seemingly bored eyes as the Dwarf talked. He thought back to his current experiment. "One Goblin, like the others, amount of damage is irrelevant, recently killed. If that can't be had, any dead being will do." Kruziik casually looked around. Okigira's current view of Goblins displayed them as nothing but animals, which is no different compared to two thousand years ago when they were. This was a good method of control over the Goblins, though in recent years they had been accepted by the darker side of Okigira, criminals, pirates and the like for their many ways of getting around unseen. He had proudly told them to embrace the opportunities afforded by these lowlifes, as long as they remembered their God as they made their fortune.

augmentedspartan

 

[augmentedspartan]

Lewis listened silently and wrote on his notebook. Amount: One. Race: Any (Preferably Goblin). State: Dead (Preferably recent). Damage: Any (Singular piece). Easy haul, all things considered, it should be relatively cheap, even if Ambrose was rather greedy with his pricing. Lewis had no interest about what happened to the cargo, he only focused on the transfer, but he preferred to deal with dead bodies rather than live ones. It made transportation that much easier.

"Very well," he said, after writing a few other things down. "Delivery should be available in the next two days. We will send someone your way with the location of the dead drop. Pleasure doing business with you." He tuckered his notebook inside his jacket and stood up to go towards the bar. He had no appointments today, but he always liked to stay around in case anyone was in need of a quick delivery. Might as well get a drink to pass the time.

TheCountryWarrior

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Kruziik nodded with a smile. "And you. I bid you farewell." He took his leave of this delightful establishment, went in to the alley, and promptly punched a nearby wall with a frustrated grunt. He had forgotten about the wait time for dead people! Two days! He didn't have two days, the town di- no its fine. It's fine! He'll just use one of his living Goblins. He never liked killing one of his own, but they would consider it an honor. It's fine.

augmentedspartan

With a thought he vanished and appeared in his study. He sent out his senses to listen for the boy in the castle. Hmm. No squeaking beds? Guess the kid wasn't as smooth as he thought. He descended into his lair and was met with the adoring gazes of a hundred or so Goblins.

He smiled at them all, a genuine smile he saved only for them and another. The crowd parted for him as he made his way to the podium where he addressed them. He cried out in the language he had created for them.

"My children! The experiments have hit a snag! We are out of corpses, and the Corpse Holder can not get one to us in time. After much consideration I have decided that I need one of you to sacrifice yourselves to the cause of immortality! I need the strongest and most powerful of you to step up so that they may gain immortal life!"

The crowd erupted in cheers and several ran up to the podium, each believing they were the strongest and deserved immortality. Kruziik chose the strongest of them, a warrior named Mulaaquanarr, and led them to the alter.

The Goblin lay face up on the alter eagerly awaiting a death that would end. Kruziik began swirling his hands around as sickly green energy circled around his follower. The magic energy soon took the shape of a skull as it settled into a pattern above the Goblins head. While the creature was distracted by the pretty colors, Kruziik willed a dagger into his hand and plunged it into the warrior before him. With a squeak, the Goblin died. Kruziik pushed the magic skull into the Goblins head, and waited. He wasn't actually sure if it would work. He had been trying this for over a decade already, but he knew he was close. Several painful moments passed, Kruziik's worry that he'd killed one of his family for no reason growing by the second, before the creature before him gasped for air.

Kruziik grinned and laughed joyously, clapping as he spun around in circles. The Goblin sat up groggily, as if he'd just woken up from a night of hard grog. Kruziik talked to the newly revived Goblin, hoping to uncover any side effects before they became a problem. "Do you remember me, my child?" The Goblin stared at him, puzzled, until recognition lit up on his eyes. "Did, did it work? Am I immortal now?" Kruziik gazed at him with fatherly pride. "In a sense. You can still die, only you'll wake up soon after. So it's mostly immortality. But age and sickness shall never take you!" Kruziik ran to the podium, Mulaaquanarr close behind.

"My children! The magic has worked! Once again I have beaten death itself! But not for me! For those of you who truly deserve it! The elite chieftains! Those who prove themselves! With our newfound power, we can finally stick it to the cats! We shall be victorious!" Kruziik waited for the cheering to die down before continuing. "Rest my children, because we make our triumphant return to the war tomorrow!"

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia was all dressed up in a fancy red dress with black highlights to accent the outfit. Because of course she had to wear the national colors when making a public appearance. As she rode down the cobbled streets of her beloved city in the royal carriage drawn by four beautiful white horses, as well as the royal guard in full plate armor, marching alongside in perfect synchronization and formation., the young heir could be seen with her face against the glass as she waved happily to all the citizens they passed.

Spoiler: Something like this

After a few minutes of riding, they arrived at the fairgrounds, where Nia and her father took their elevated seats. She looked to her left to her father and smiled at him "I love today. It's so cool. I mean, just look at that guy!" she pointed to a warrior signing up to the tournament. "His muscles are huge!" Nia's father smiled and pat his daughters head. "Never change Nia, never change." he said with a light chuckle.

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

Decius had awoken from slumber. He usually would not wake up this early but something ruined his peace and quiet. His axe perhaps? Decius chuckled at the thought. That would be too ridiculous. He put on all of his armour and then left the tavern. He was not hungry for breakfast as the food he had eaten the last night was enough for him. After leaving the tavern, Decius went to the town square only to find it completely deserted save for a few merchants and old men cleaning things up. After approaching one, he was reminded of the tournament that was to be held today. Decius had finally remembered the tournament. He remembered the handsome gold rewards far better than the actual details however. How hard could the competition be? He asked himself. He then when to the entrance to the town. His height made it easy for him to see everything from the back. Warriors of all types rode in with their incredible armour on the beautiful horses. For Decius, all the fancy things were nothing but for show as the real worth of a soldier was seen in the field or in battle. He then looked down at his axe and started to make his way to where he could sign up.

Decius had once again looked at the map he had earlier. After getting lost a few times and losing around 12 minutes worth of time, he finally made it to the fairgrounds. He then saw a very long line of people. There were fighters of every single type there. Nimble archers, jousters, duelists, brutes, and even a few people who looked like they could not fight at all. This would frighten any person wanting to sign up, but for Decius it was nothing more than a challenge. He stood at the back of the line, carefully making sure that none of the idiots in the line with him touch his majestic cloak, and worse yet, his axe. For a certain reason, Decius was starting to get even more protective of his axe. But he disregarded it as being nothing more than him being impatient to start fighting. While standing in line he noticed the king and his daughter arriving and taking elevated seats. Decius thought that would be an extremely foolish idea as any archer could easily shoot both of them down. And that was a danger that had to be taken into account as, even though assassinations might not be commonplace in Dalania, this tournament allowed for all sorts of shady characters to waltz in here.

He took notice of the king's redheaded daughter. She seemed much shorter than he expected. Or rather, he was much taller. The same was with the king. He understood that all the paintings and statues of leaders in the town all depicted them in a very unrealistic light by highlighting their better qualities while sweeping the terrible ones under the rug. The princess was looking around with excitement, being extremely impatient, waving at people randomly and constantly pointing. If he did not know any better he would have assumed that she was a child. Although, it really did seem like the mind of a five year old was stuck in her body. He chuckled at the thought and continued to walk forward in the line he was in.

After signing up, Decius took an empty seat wherever it was available and just waited for the tournament to begin. His rough armour combined with his elegant red cloak, made him distinct from the others there. He was even more noticeable due to the other warriors talking to each other in excitement and him just waiting alone for the tournament to begin. He clutched his axe with a stronger grip, slowly getting impatient.

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio had gotten the day off from Kruziik, allowing him to explore the festival of... something. He had been here for but a couple months and was unsure what the festival was about, even with his grandfather talking about it for the past week. He just kinda let him talk without listening. Now he wished he'd listened, so that he'd have some clue as to what's going on. But at least there was a tournament, that was easy enough to understand. He now found himself sitting next to his grandfather father, who was decked out in full Dalania gear: red and black clothes, a mini flag of Dalania, a hat, and an actual red and black parrot on his shoulder. Armandio was wearing his normal attire. Darker colors, nothing too flashy. They were waiting for the good stuff to start.

 

[MagicPenguin]

Mid-morning, Castle Front Gates

After a great deal of waiting, the castle gates finally began to open. Soldiers and guardsman began to pour out like juice from a freshly squeezed orange. They organized themselves and proceeded to make their way down the road south of the castle. After the soldiers, next came the minor nobility and their households, Raimi would guess. They were lords and ladies of all ages, every one richly dressed in the finest silks and carefully primped for their outing through the city streets. Many seemed to ooze a sense of entitlement that Raimi could almost physically feel as they looked down upon the faceless masses that they probably rarely even spared a thought for unless they were required to show themselves in public for events such as this one. Rae had never seen such a luxuriously decorated group of self-important peacocks, but she couldn't deny there was also a certain majesty to the whole event.

Finally came the royal family, carried within a massive golden chariot ushered forth by magnificent white stallions. The king and princess were clearly visible to everyone, but they were well-guarded on all sides and safely sequestered behind the glass windows of the chariot. Rae took a moment to study the people who supposedly governed the country of her birth, but that she had never seen with her own eyes until this moment. The king was a powerfully built man, stocky with a regal bearing to his posture that left no one who saw him in doubt of who was the ultimate authority in the land.

The daughter, however, was another matter. She was a tiny girl; she couldn't be any older than herself, Rae thought. Raimi didn't know why this surprised her so much. She had thought the royal princess would be more...large. Imposing, maybe. In contrast to Rae's mental image, however, the red-headed girl had her face pressed against the safety glass of her carriage and was gawking at all the onlookers like a child looking through the display case at a toy store. Where her father had a worldly sort of air about him, like a man with a great deal of experience and all of the answers, the daughter seemed as though she were seeing everything for the first time, which gave her her own aura of sheltered innocence.

When the chariot was well past her, Rae followed the procession as it made its way through the streets. The parade made its way south along the main road and would eventually loop around and head back north until it reached the tourney grounds just north of the castle. The guards nearest the chariot gave her some dirty looks, apparently wary of the bow on her back. She couldn't blame them for doing their jobs, but their unfriendly stares, heavy armor, and long, sharp spears made Rae a bit nervous, so she decided to lose herself in the crowd and make her way to the tourney grounds ahead of the procession.

When she got there, there were already a multitude of people lining up to register for the main events. For the most part, the contenders seemed to be knights there for the joust or the melee; there were, however, a few commoners and travelers in line as well. The lowborn entrants seemed to have a general sense of anxiety about them as they looked around at all the armored knights who would be taking part, as if the commoners felt like they didn't quite belong among them. The knights, for their part, paid little attention, if any, to the commoners. Raimi got in line for the archery competition.

While she was waiting in line, the royal procession arrived and the king and the princess took their places in the seats of honor high above the stands where the lesser nobles would sit. The commoners who wanted to watch were scrambling to find seats in the stands below the nobles. The stands resembled some sort of class pyramid, with the numerous commoners sitting at the bottom, the fewer nobles in the middle, and the royal family and their closest friends and advisers above them in the seats highest up. The princess, as before, seemed elated with everything she saw, pointing to random men and speaking excitedly with her father, who simply laughed and patted her on the head.

When Raimi made it to the front of the line, the man in charge of entries gave her a quick look-over and then let loose a little chuckle.

“You sure you wanna enter, princess? It costs 1 gold an' there's lots of bigger men with more experience usin' a bow than you got. I hate to be stealin' money from a little girl.”

Rae swallowed her annoyance at the man's dismissive comments and struggled to remain civil. She hated people who looked down on her based on her appearance. She slammed a gold coin down on the table. “Name's Raimi. I'm entering. Put me on the list,” she said in a low, menacing tone of voice. She would show this jerk just how “little” she was when the competition started.

“Pfft. Whatever you say, kiddo. Your gold, not mine.” He wrote her name down on a long list and pocketed her gold, then shooed her away and called lazily for the next person in line.

Rae scouted around the lower stands for a good spot to wait for the games to begin. Most of the good seats were already taken by spectators, unfortunately. She noticed a man decked out from top to bottom in red and black with a parrot on his shoulder sitting next to a younger man in darker colors. Geez, she thought; there's patriotism and then there's over-enthusiasm. The old man was walking a fine line, and the young buck next to him seemed like he was trying to pretend he didn't know the guy, though their faint resemblance gave them away as family.

Rae scanned a bit more and finally noticed an empty space next to a gigantic fellow with a mean-looking ax. He seemed familiar, though she didn't recall where exactly she'd seen him until she saw his gloves. This was the big guy who'd given her those potatoes yesterday. People seemed to be trying to give him a lot of space, probably intimidated by his size and the nasty scowl he was wearing, which meant there were plenty of free places to sit nearby. She walked right up and plopped herself down right next to him.

“Hey, there” she said as she looked up at him with a smile, “how're those gloves treatin' ya so far? Pretty comfy, right?”

Duke of Doge TheCountryWarrior The_Omega_Effect

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Kruziik followed behind the rest of the procession. Since "court wizards" are extremely uncommon, the jury had been out on where Kruziik would be. He wasn't royalty, nobility or some hero. He was supposed to cast a protective barrier around the King and the Princess at the tourney grounds, but the carriage they were in was mithril or some Dwarven metal. Nigh impenetrable, and Kruziik knew that firsthand. He has taken a spear and threw it with all his might at the carriage using basically the force. Nothing. A small dent but still. Them Dwarves now how to build.

Absolutely void of anything to do, without the high station required to sit with anyone, Kruziik found himself in the back where no one would care to see him. This was fine with him, though they were missing out. He had his own carriage that was adorned similarly to himself, and moved with out the aid of horses. He moved it with his goddamed mind. But no one cared. Ah well, they wouldn't be around to judge much longer.

As the parade through the town came to a halt at the arena where the tournament was to take place, Kruziik had to rush up to get to the king before he got out of his chariot. He had to place the protective ward around the royals so that they weren't assassinated. A real threat in their line of work. Kruziik teleported up and threw up a protective field around them. This part of the job required him to stay around the royals, meaning he got one of the best seats in the house.

He sat with them, gazing at the many combatants. He knew his Goblins could take many of them, easy, but they would just finish them if in epic gruesome fatalities. He was proud. He sat, waiting for the fights to start. Now if only it weren't non-lethal.

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

“Hey, there. How're those gloves treatin' ya so far? Pretty comfy, right?” Decius heard a familiar voice before. One he had heard whilst buying the very gloves he wore that day. She did not startle him however, as he pretty much heard her coming from a fair distance away and just decided not to react until he know who it was and what it wanted. Instinctively, Decius moved his axe a tiny bit away from her and clutched it a bit harder. For some odd reason, he just had the compulsion to keep anybody else from touching his axe which he found very weird since the girl probably weighed as much as it. He then turned to answer her question.

"Yea you are right. They are "pretty comfy"." He said, while opening up the palm of his unoccupied hand. "Although, to my knowledge, cow hides and leathers are preferable to sheep skin in terms of combat and toughness, they do their job and that is enough for me." He then turned his face to her and the scowl on his face had been replaced with the smallest smile imaginable. "I am guessing you are here for the archery tournament, hunter girl. Funnily enough, it is the only one I am not signed up in."

 

[augmentedspartan]

Ambrose slowly made his way through the dense crowd. Generally, he preferred it when the streets were empty and calm, devoid of people getting on his way and all the noise they produced, which is why he liked night walks; too bad he was always sound asleep by that time. Elbowing his way thoughtlessly through the swarm of people, he ignored the stares and shouts from startled people. He wasn't particularly strong, but his elbows were bony enough to incite a yelp when he hit a particularly tender spot. He hated the festival. Not only was it a moronic display of unnecessary violence used to distract the dimwits that lived in this city, but he was also forced to oversee it along side any other capable doctor in case someone got hurt. How someone would be stupid enough to hurt themselves with wooden weapons was beyond him, but there were stupid people for everything. They didn't even bothered sending an official anymore, and just left a letter that said "be there or pay up" in fancy speech. Eventually he reached the doctor's stand, positioned to give both a good view of the event as well as a quick route to the arena in case anything happened. Thankfully they hadn't been tactless enough to put him with the patrolling groups scattered around the place; constant walking wasn't something his legs appreciated.

"Seems lik-"

"Shut the fuck up," Ambrose didn't even let the woman next to him finish before sitting down on the only available seat. She simply chuckled, amused at the reaction.

"What happened? Got woken up from your nap?" Elise, a fellow pathologist, prodded him. "They seem to be lasting longer, don't they? Not long before you don't wake up at all."

"How would you know," he grumbled, not bothering to tone his sentence as a question. "You can't tell the difference between a dead person and an unconscious one."

Elise's smile made the tiniest movement, but she otherwise acted as if she hadn't heard that last comment. Ambrose didn't like her. In his eyes she was unprofessional and incompetent, and even though he couldn't prove it, not that it affected his opinion, he was sure she only became a doctor to satisfy her sadistic tendencies. Elise just kinda liked to annoy him whenever possible.

"How did they manage to get you here? Couldn't afford to pay the 'can't do my job' fee?"

"How disappointed were you when you realized there would be no dead people for you to get off to."

"Dodging the question? How unbecoming of you."

"I'm really not paying much attention to what you're saying. Or any at all."

"Was that an answer or a general statement?"

"It's my nice way to tell you to shut up."

"It's not working very well, is it?"

Ambrose sometimes understood why passion crimes were a thing.

 

[MagicPenguin]

"Unfortunately for you, big man, leather and cowhide ain't easy materials to make clothes out of. You gotta tan 'em first, which takes a professional. Sheepskin's the same, but just so happens the biggest pair I had was made out of it. I have a few smaller pairs with leather, but if you want 'em, you might have to go find yourself a smaller pair o' hands first," Raimi replied jokingly.

She noticed the way he kept a hand on the handle of his axe, as if he thought she were going to attack him or try to steal it. Talk about paranoid...

"Archery's what I'm good at, so that's what I'm gonna try for. I'm guessing the melee is what you're REALLY here for. You seem like a tavern brawl kinda guy, and a melee is just a glorified tavern brawl, if you ask me. Leave the lances and horses to the heroic knight-in-shining-armor types."

The_Omega_Effect

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

Decius chuckled a little bit at her joke. Whether it was him expecting what she would say at the end, or whether he actually enjoyed the joke was not clear however. He listened to her as she kept talking. He found it a bit ridiculous for him to just give up his spot in the jousting tournament just like that. He did pay for the spot and he wanted a shot at bringing knights in shining armour to the knees. She did have a point though. Decius' experience riding horses was just him moving from place to place as he was never a part of the cavalry. He also never liked using a lance as he found them to be a weapon that is easily countered by any competent warrior. Attending would give him a shot at winning. However, he would most likely lose to the more experienced jousters. "There is more to a melee than a glorified tavern brawl. Although it may seem like it when you watch two orcs swinging at each other with hammers, if you put any good, agile warrior in a brawl, you get to see the full extent of the tactics and the ingenious strategies that are used by them.... until they get crushed as in limited spaces like these size is generally the deciding factor. The name is Decius. Pleased to meet you." He said as he offered his hand to her.

 

[MagicPenguin]

Rae put a finger on her chin and scrunched her brow in mock thoughtfulness.

"So you're saying the small space of the arena gives the big guys an advantage? And that it means strategy and tactics matter less than size and power? ...Yeah, you're not making a great case that it ain't just a tavern brawl in disguise" Rae said with a smirk.

"Raimi Charlotte. Likewise," she said as she shook the man's hand. As she might expect from one so large, his handshake was firm, but not so firm that he crushed her hand altogether.

Rae let her eyes roam over the ever-growing crowd of people in the arena slowly making their way to the stands. "I hope they start soon. All this waiting just makes me nervous. I've never seen so many people in one place. Might not've believed they all existed if I couldn't see it for myself."

She turned back to Decius. "I hope you don't choke with all those eyeballs watching you fight. You don't get stage fright, do you?" she said in a teasing tone, though she was really afraid that SHE was the one who would choke when the pressure was on. Not that she'd ever admit it.

The_Omega_Effect

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

Decius had realised that his little joke had not been picked up by her. It was not really her fault as he pretty much kept the same monotone throughout the entire explanation. She lent him her hand which he tried not to squeeze too hard as the moment he took it, he thought that it would snap like a twig if he applied any more force. Being bigger than everyone meant that smaller figures like her would seem especially fragile. He then heard her talk about how the amount of people that the different competitions had worried her. She obviously had not attended many tournaments and did not come to cities like these too often.
"Unless you mean choking in terms of me wrapping my hand around someone's neck and squeezing, I don't think I will be doing any of it. I am a soldier after all. Well. I was a soldier. I've been in battles with twice the amount of people in this area on each side. Needless to say, I do not care for what any of them would think, nor do I crumble under pressure. I can understand how it might be a problem for you though. From the look of things you work alone when hunting and most likely live in the rural areas, only coming here to sell your wares. I think that with your working environment being so isolated, it might be you who would choke." He said the last sentence with a bit of a smirk of his own.

 

[Randomfella]

7am, The Lazy Fox

Waking up just in time for breakfast, Jenny prepared and finished her meal, before packing something for her second breakfast and elevenses. Today was going to be busy, so she would unfortunately not be able to have them fresh like usual. Preparing to leave, Jenny adorned her best clothes, which in truth was simply her least dirty work attire, before procuring something she had been working on for some time. Storing it in her side coat, along with plenty of other special devices, she set out to join in on the festivities. Unfortunately for her, the girl selling her wares in the market the day before had already left, but that could always wait.

As she began to leave, the innkeeper piped up. "Out to the festival are ya? I thought you'd take that crossbow of yours, try to get some of that attention you love so dearly in the competition." He smirked, before the halfling turned toward him, arms crossed. "A halfling competing against humans in a contest of ballistic merit? Doesn't seem very fair on you poor saps." She stated, before her expression changed to a wide smile, a small chuckle following. "No, I'm going to display my prowess in a way that will earn more than a few gold in prize money." She stated, before heading out of the door. George in response simply placing his hand over her face. "What is she going to do this time..." He simply sighed to himself, before getting back to his business, there were plenty of customers soon to come for the night.

Approaching the festival, there were countless numbers of people just waiting to see the royalty. Jen personally didn't care much for them, taking elevated seats in their attempt to further place themselves above the common folk, not that it mattered, they were the ones Jen needed to impress.
At the corner of the tourney grounds were numerous performers of all types. Strolling over, Jenny came to address the man organizing it, who gave a strange look at the small girl. "Are you lost hun?" He simply asked, looking around for anyone who might be looking for her.
"I'm here to perform." She simply replied in a soft voice, staring up at him. His response however was only laughter.
"Haha, sorry little girl, but this is the most important event of the year, I can't just let anyone in." He stated, wiping a small tear that had formed on his cheek, hyenas cackling behind him all the while.
A small smile formed on her face as she pulled some small cylinder object from her coat, nonchalantly lighting them as the performers were distracted, before throwing them all around. Following the action, small blasts of colour erupted around her, little *bang*s erupting all the while, with small fits of smoke following. That shut them up, the lot of them were quite shocked at the site of it, it wasn't something they were used to seeing, that was for sure.
"That's only a small display of my power." She continued, pulling herself up onto the table at which the organizer worked, getting in his face all the while.
In response, the man laid back on his chair, stroking his chin in thought. "On second opinion... I think I might have a place for you." He concluded, smiling all the while.

Sure, the pay from the greedy dope wasn't nearly as much as Jenny knew she deserved, but it more than paid for the reagents, and it wasn't why she wanted to come anyhow. It was planned for her to come in somewhere after the first competition, where plenty of performances would take place for the amusement of the royalty and all others. For now however, she might as well enjoy whatever it was that was planned for this whole ordeal. Heading toward the stands, the halfling took one of the few remaining seats, it was far from the action, but it hardly mattered. All the while a wide smile was plastered on her face, her body jolting up and down in excitement.

 

[MagicPenguin]

"Whaaat? Choke? Me? Pfft. Naaaw. I wouldn't do that. Nope, not me..." she said, somewhat flustered. Quick. Change subject. Now.

Raimi stopped abruptly and stared intently at Decius. She was overcome all of a sudden with a strange feeling of deja vu. Something about his voice. She remembered the bear-like vibe she'd gotten off of him yesterday at the market. Her eyes narrowed. Her instincts usually weren't wrong, but what were the chances that, of all the people in the city, this just happened to be the bear from the other day? It couldn't be...but she might as well ask just to pass the time. Also, the subject still desperately needed changing.

"Say...shot in the dark, but you ever been to an inn called The Brazen Fox?"

The_Omega_Effect

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

Decius got confused. What an odd question to ask. Why is it so specific though? He thought. Perhaps she was in one of the inns that he had been in as well. He tried to remember the names of all the inns he had been in. "I have been in many taverns here. It doesn't help me know which is which considering every single one has some version of a fox in its title. But yes, a few days ago I did spend a night at the Brazen Fox."

 

[MagicPenguin]

Unbelievable! This WAS the bear. Rae stared at him with a mixture of wonder and remembered frustration. Out of all the people she could possibly sit next to in this crowd full of thousands, somehow she had found the roaring, wild bear that made her miss breakfast yesterday. She didn't know if that made her incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky. Time would tell, she supposed.

"I'll have you know you caused me quite a bit of trouble yesterday morning, Sir Bear. I'll forgive you this once because you gave me those potatoes for lunch, but just remember that no one comes between me and breakfast and gets away with it. No one!" She tried to make her voice sound light and joking, but her face was deadly serious and she might have let a bit more irritation slip through than she intended.

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

"Sir Bear?" he asked, clearly annoyed at the nickname that she chosen for him. Although he thought that the dangerous nature of a bear was something to be respected, he knew that she meant it as an insult due to the common connotation of bears being slow moving, idiotic brutes. He had always tried to make himself stand out from the hundreds of violent orcs and being called something that was the equivalent of what he was trying to avoid being known as, bothered him. But the girl, Raimi, had told it in a joking tone. He knew she was not serious so there was no reason for him to be serious either. "Bears are dangerous you know. You should tread carefully around those who you call bears. I could just break you like this." While saying that last sentence, Decius raised his hand very quickly right in front of her face and snapped. The sound of the snap coincided with when he said the word "break". He then lowered his hand and smiled. "Tell you what. Stop calling me that and I'll pay for one of your breakfasts."

 

[MagicPenguin]

"Nope," she said with a smile. "You're a bear. Definitely. No changing my mind about that now. Might as well just accept it."

She returned to her state of faux thoughtfulness. "The only thing I haven't decided just yet is whether you're the kind of bear that mindlessly pillages beehives and campsites or if you're actually just a big, cuddly teddy bear in disguise. Maybe a bit of both? Jury's still out on that one; got any thoughts about which it might be, my lord of fur and loud roars?"

The arena was packed almost to the point of capacity at this point. The games should start at any time now, Rae figured. She felt a bit anxious for what was coming, she had to admit to herself, but the levity of the moment helped to relax her somewhat. For that, at least, she was grateful for The Bear's presence.