Fantasy Pieces O' Eight

[hellrazoromega]

The once quiet town of Boca del Rio is now a town that has swelled to many times its size as smugglers of all types take advantage of war between Castille and Montaigne. As such anything that could possible be a commodity in a war passes through this little hamlet. It had become a haven for those on the run and those looking to get rich in a hurry. For a myriad of reasons the town has remained untouched by the armies of either nation, not the least of which is the indulgence of either side in some of the goods smuggled. Each of you has your own reason reasons for why you would be here.


For whatever reason you each find yourselves in the lone tavern in the town, the Corazón Valiente. It is one of the only places to gather information, or make deals while keeping an eye on the movers and shakers of this town. The rest of the town are homes a general store and temporary tent warehouses. The nearby river docks are a frenzy of activity.


The main room of the tavern is packed as always with an array of characters being served by the bartender Jorge and the large staff of local girls he has had to take on with the upswing in business. A hasty, but well made, addition to the tavern has ensured that the place is not standing room only. There are a few spaces where a person could find a seat.

 

[Mei]

Antonia, the now Dona of lands now in Montaigne control, takes her seat and orders a drink as she listens to the variety of people talk. One mention of any of the Ochoa traitors is all she needs... They fled into Montaigne lands or those occupied by the Montaigne invaders. She offers a smile to those who glance at her, but it is less friendly and more confident.


But, still, it was good to take a seat and relax. And she honestly needs a dink.

 

[Silent Wayfarer]

Samuel practically struts into the room, taking in the scenery, human and otherwise, as he heads toward the bar. He's dressed stylishly but subduedly, allowing his roguish features to dominate the impression of any onlookers.


He spies Antonia sitting by herself, recognizes her Castilian features, and reflects on the good fortune of meeting a potential friend in an unfriendly land.


"Good day," he says, taking a seat beside her. "Grappa?"


He indicates a bottle of the Vodacce beverage, beckoning for it with a smile to the bartender.

 

[Mei]

The Castillian woman has with her a mug. In it was that Eisen beer that she had gotten used to in her stays in the far off nation. She gingerly sips it as the man seats himself next to her.


"I guess one could call it a good day." Hey, nothing bad happened yet.

 

[Silent Wayfarer]

"Or a boring one. I see you favor the beer of distant Eisen; a memento of time spent there, perhaps?"


Samuel's manner is easygoing and casual. There's something about Antonia that makes her stand out from the masses; it intrigues him, and he's going to find out as much as he can.

 

[Mei]

"Indeed I do. Spent a good few years over there with my uncle. We returned pretty recently." Antonia spoke with a Torres accent, but the Eisen rigidity peaked in every now and then. "It's been a while since I got to speak Castillian with people other than my uncle."

 

[hellrazoromega]

The bartender offers the bottle of Grappa with a smile and then goes back to tending other customers. Interestingly enough unlike some bartenders he does not seem to worry about keeping his eye on the bottle.

 

[solyrflair]

"We're on own own. Each for themselves." It was the fact. Their group had been caught salt smuggling in Montaigne. She had managed to get them away and out of Montaigne, but that was all she was willing to commit to them. They were smugglers, sailors, and in one case, a carpenter. They could get their own work. She wasn't going to keep them on. She had no way to pay them. And she was not about to resort to highway banditry.


She left two silver monties on the table to pay for their drinks and stood up. Their contract was over and she was going to find something to do while the money they collected would last. They could go do whatever they wanted. Somewhere there was a port, they could go, find work, and she would probably see them again. Hopefully not in a boarding party.


She ordered a Bodega Sherry for herself and decided to give the room her appraisal. You could find people in a room, just by appearance. There were those who had a look that they were working, but had finer quality to them, and then their were the labored. Those that work, got paid, and needed to keep working. Their clothes were older, the boots dirtier, the jackets worn their pants patched. It was a thin divide.


She had taken captain's share, since the captain was in the hands of the Montaigne Navy. Her clothes were finer, the hat held a plume that wasn't washed out by rain, the shirt was not faded. She had recently bathed. She could pass her own inspection. And there were only a few that could compete.


"Pardon," she said in her Montainge accent, "would you mind some company?" The accent wasn't thick, she had been speaking it for half her life. But old habits died hard, and some vowels held a tinge, a few words with the accent just slightly off.

 

[hellrazoromega]

As you talk and drink anyone studying the room can Roll and Keep Wits. If you have any ranks in Conceal you can add that to your rolled pile.

 

[Mei]

Antonia looks up at the Montaigne woman from her seat and smiles gently as she nods. "Ah, yes, I could do with some more feminine company today. Been traveling with a group of men up here."


Still, the hint of a Montaigne accent made her just a little on edge... But, some Torres had a very Montaigne-like accent.


[dice]716[/dice]

 

[solyrflair]

"Ouí, one of the reasons I came over here. The other, if I were a thief, you would have been my marks." She took the seat without waiting for another reply.


Of course, she just made a thieving foreigner remark. Perhaps she should try something more lawful to put hem at ease. She just couldn't think of anything at the moment.


[dice]722[/dice]

 

[Silent Wayfarer]

"Indeed I do. Spent a good few years over there with my uncle. We returned pretty recently." Antonia spoke with a Torres accent, but the Eisen rigidity peaked in every now and then. "It's been a while since I got to speak Castillian with people other than my uncle."

"I've travelled abroad myself: the rivers of Vodacce flow smoothly at night, almost enough to make you forget about the cutthroat backstabbing that runs wild there. That's what I miss about fair Castille... though not enough to go back. My name is Samuel; may I know yours, donna?"


That bit of Vodacce flair is all his invention; it is entirely coincidental that the polite address for a lady in that tongue is the same as the title for a female Don in Castille.

 

[hellrazoromega]

Those making a 10 or better on the roll notice that there are several men milling about the crowd that seem to all be watching each other, some of them seem to be nervous and even though the room is filled with shady types everyone else here is a cool customer and does not seem nervous in they way at least some of these men seem to be. It is also hard to miss that everyone of them is wearing a long voluminous yet nondescript coat.

 

[Silent Wayfarer]

Samuel leans forward, as though to steal a kiss... but his lips merely draw close to Antonia's ear as he whispers in his heaviest Soldano accent.


"You should probably be aware that we are about to be ambushed. Slap me, and I'll maneuver us out of here."


He winks to the pretty Montaigne girl next to them, then leans over and actually does kiss her. No sense letting her get hurt in the fighting, he thinks.

 

[Mei]

Antonia's face twists into actual annoyance at that point. Her slap was a bit too real for most people's tastes, but it was what Samuel literally asked for! "Gah! Men."

 

[Silent Wayfarer]

"Donna!" he exclaims, leaping back in a way calculated to make a huge scene. "Forgive my forwardness, but will you turn these questing pilgrims back at the object of their quest?"


As he says this, he's moving deliberately, leaving enough of himself exposed and opened that the skilled swordswoman's eye of Antonia can tell that he's indicating her to exit via the front door. To onlookers, it should appear like he's being a sleazy lout pestering her.


Or she could demand satisfaction with steel, and then he could simply dodge his way out of the tavern and take Antonia with him. Shame about the Montaignian girl... though she could chase him out too.

 

[solyrflair]

Names, a wonderful idea, if she could only manage to figure out which one. She could go with the obvious but efficient Celeste duPaix. Or perhaps the more astute Celeste duRhone, but she normally reserved that in a courtly setting. Or even the ditzy but surprisingly effective Kiki LeTour. Anything but her real name.


She had come to the new table to get a better look at the men in the bar. From her prior vantage pot, she could barely get any glimpse of them at all, but this table was devoid of boisterous argument. She had a much better vantage point, and she was now aware that these weren't your normal highwaymen. These were mercenaries, or perhaps assassins, out to pick up a good number of coins, probably to put her in chains. Moving to this table seemed to have made them a bit nervous.


She reached down and drew a knife from her boot. This wasn't going to follow the normal rules of no weapons. This was going to get dangerous and bloody fast, and she in her nicer clothes too. She just wished she knew who these men were working for. The Inquisition? The Montaigne Navy? The Imperial Court?


A wink was all the notice she was given. Then a kiss, and a slap from the Castilan women - a slap well earned and well given. She glanced to see if the men were moving in or if he had bought her a few moments, but instead he stood blocking her path out. She didn't gave the eye of a trained swordsman. Were these his men? She turned the knife in her hand for a better grip when fighting against swords.

 

[Mei]

Antonia frowns as she glares at her fellow Castillian. "Outside, now. I shall fight for the honor of both myself and this woman that you... Defiled with your frivolous behavior." She then looked over towards the woman in question. "If she has no objections, of course."

 

[solyrflair]

"Well, it seems I am now required to bear witness that this follows all proper rules and procedures." She took the opportunity to glance around the room, taking special note of the attire and demeanor of the men who were watching them so nervously.


She had several opportunities to conduct bouts of honor aboard ship. Though only officers were permitted weapons, and needed an impartial officer from the ship to witness. Most of her opportunities were merely fisticuffs between drunken men. Little more than a brawl, but rules were kept. You couldn't afford a serious injury.

 

[Silent Wayfarer]

"You... ah," he smiles, with an extravagantly flamboyant bow. "Donna; it would mar my soul to scar a fair lady like yourself or herself," he says, indicating the Montaignian. "But at the same time I cannot let it be said that I am a boor. Very well; we shall battle for her honor; and outside."


He ushers them outside, and when he judges nobody is watching, he whispers, "You're not really going through with this, are you?"

 

[Mei]

"It's up to the woman you actually kissed." Antonia motioned her head to the other woman. "I am only the champion of honor."

 

[hellrazoromega]

OOC

I was going to spring something to involve you guys but I am content to let this play out some more--it is working as far as I am concerned so feel free to carry on, my little surprise can wait it has not expiration date.

 

[solyrflair]

"If I drew blood for every man, or woman, that kissed me or tried, they would need to name a cemetery after me." She laughed, maintaining a small amount of the noble bearing she possessed, despite having lived the life of a ruffian the last couple years. "Still, I have never had a woman offer to defend my honor. I would not like to deprive her of the chance."


She turns to the woman. "If you wish to be my champion, I shall accept. But do realize that you may have your skills tested quite often." She smiles a warm smile. Then curtsies in a way that belies the pants and long coat of a ship's mate. "First touch should be enough to test his skills."

 

[Silent Wayfarer]

Samuel bows with a flourish. "Then it seems I must defend my good name before the eyes of all onlookers," he says. "To the first touch, then; it would not do to deprive the world of a chivalrous warrior such as yourself."


In a trice, his rapier is out; wavy with the patterns of the sea and the distant land from which its steel was forged.


"On your guard, madam," he grins.

 

[Mei]

"You are too confident, good sir." Antonia pulls out her rapier; a Castillian could easily identify it as one of the Torres blades. Such blades are usually reserved for nobles. "I trained with my uncle, a master of Aldana, since I was but a young girl. I know how to fight with the best of them, especially one-on-one."


She falls into what could only be the Aldana stance. "A Rodriguez does not lose in a duel of honor. On your guard."


[dice]827[/dice]

Spoiler

Aldana technique for an extra unkept die, 14 total. Actions on the 3rd, 4th and 7th phases.