Plague of Speech (1x1)

[Atroxa]

Lies are the Plague of Speech - Arabic Proverb


The clash of steel and the tang of blood on the air were an all too familiar combination for Alath. Violence and death in battle were simple a part of her life, her blood. But this was different. Faces smeared with blood and twisted in agony came and went in her vision, faces she knew, people she loved. They were calling her name, their voices a wailing chorus of pain and sorrow, she tried to block them out, slashing with her sword wildly, trying to fight off her enemies and the accusations of her dying tribe. Pain exploded through her as a sword pierced her body, and her mind shattered into a thousand bitter shards, falling into the blood-soaked sand to become a part of the sun scorched dunes.


Alath woke with a scream, jerking up right and waving her dagger around in her terror, her body soaked in a cold sweat. The fire had burned down to embers, casting a red glow over her small camp under a clump of scraggly trees, and Alath's stomach turned as she looked at the sand, reminded of the blood soaked sand in her dream, a dream she had often. Jade green eyes shut to ward off the image and she pushed her wavy black hair out of her face, where it was trying to cling to her damp skin. She was still clutching her dagger in her hand, and put it away, grabbing some branches from the pile nearby and tossing them onto the sleeping fire. Slowly, small tongues of flame woke, licking the fuel hungrily.


'It's just a dream you know,' a voice said in her head, the tone a mixture of condescension and assurance. Alath turned her head to look at Nasim, her only companion. The small bay stallion was watching her curiously, the fire reflected in his deep brown eyes. "I know," She muttered aloud. "I don't think you do," he countered disapprovingly. Alath just frowned, she didn't feel like arguing. She knew what Nasim meant, that it was all in her head, that is wasn't the ghosts of her loved ones blaming her for their deaths. Alath still couldn't help but feel that it was though. A classic case of survivor's guilt, not that she knew of such a thing, and if she did she'd deny that's what she was experiencing, the guilt seemed justified to her. "They would not hate you simply because you lived," he told her, the harshness of his tone gone, only seeming calm and reassuring now. Alath did not answer for a long moment. "I left them," Alath whispered, prodding the fire with a branch.


The sky was already beginning to lighten in the West when she had awoken, the twin moons hanging low over the East horizon, so Alath had gotten up and begun to pack. She gave Nasim his breakfast to shut him up, and brewed some tea over the fire while she ate some biscuits and chewed on goat jerky. The hot herbal tea warmed and calmed her, and by the time she was finished packing camp and saddling Nasim, she felt much better. Alath never felt completely right though. Not any more.


She and Nasim had been making their way East from town to town, taking work when they found it, as they traveled to Rasuul, the royal city of Kha'Lail. It was one of the largest cities in the country, built on the banks of one of the few stable rivers in Kha'Lail, though it dwindled into nothing further into the desert. But there, in the foot hills of the Draagon Mountains, run off from melting snow and the storms hat seemed to ever linger at the peaks formed the Hamara River, which Rasuul was built beside. The mountains were dangerous. Ogres, orcs, dragons, and many other ferocious beasts called them home, but water was so rare in the desert, the location was considered worth the risk. These creatures regularly came down into the valleys and foot hills to raid, and while this meant that Alath could almost always find some work, she didn't particularly like fighting monsters, so she hoped she could find more domestic work in the city.


Sometimes, Alath wondered if it would have been better to have died with her tribe than live this shameful life. With all of her tribe dead or enslaved, she had no loyalty, and staying alive and having food to eat had taken a higher priority than her honor. So, Alath was now a mercenary. Fighting was all she knew, really, so her sword drew blood for anyone with enough gold, water, or food to offer her. She fought battles, hunted bounties, protected people, whatever task required a warrior with enough skill to be paid for their services. Mercenaries were blights on society, men without honor. And now, she was one of them. Her father and uncle would be so ashamed.


They stopped at mid day to wait out the extreme heat under some trees, then continued on, the sand beginning to harden and pack together into a more rocky terrain. Finally the shining city of Rasuul glimmered on the horizon, the hulking mass of the mountains forming a back drop. This was not their first visit to Rasuul, so Nasim took them, without prompting, to the inn they always stayed at, the Seeking Hound, the two travel weary and just wanting to get out of the sun for a day or two.

 

[Ricia]

(Sorry this seems a little short but I will get longer posts when my own charcter comes in!)


When Alath got to the Seeking hound in the city there was a loud commotion going on. The smell of drunk men and Crowds of men and women were gathered around a table. Sitting at the table was a man In the armor of the Royal Guard. On the table was a list that he was constantly taking names and scribbling things on.


Two men next to the door that Alath just walked in were talking loud enough to be heard over the commotion, but hopefully quite enough to not be heard. They were not doing a good job of it. One man was a large a burly gentlemen and the other was a skinner man with a beard.


“—s a lot of money they are giving.” The larger of the two men spoke, only half of his sentence being caught.


“Yeah, but I wonder how the Royal Guard and the Mercenaries will get along, they are not exactly best friends in terms of employment.” The other man said, making an obvious statement. He was fingering and twirling his beard as he spoke.


“Still, they are offering quite a bit of money. It could set you for a few years. I wonder if it is dangerous.” After the larger man finished a huge shatter of a drunken man fell over and his glass hit the floor, distracted the two men for a moment. After a few other men helped the drunken man up, a joke was made at his expense, lightening the mood around the area. Soon after the laughter died down the two men picked up a conversation like nothing had happened.


“No not at all, just some extra guard for the King and Prince. There was apparently a really serious threat made on their life. Apparently they don’t have enough men to secure the palace the way they want to. It is a rather large place.”


“So it is a long term job?”


“Maybe, depends on how long the threat continues on. Maybe I should go.” Said the smaller of the two men, they both then laughed at the apparent joke.


“I think your wife would kill you before conspirators did. Hey, how is your wife doing, is she expecting yet?” The conversation slowly diluted out to small chatter about each other’s life, their wives and farm land.

 

[Atroxa]

Nasim was in a stall and settled for the night, glad to be out of the heat and under a roof where he didn’t have to worry about a lion or something attacking him while he slept. Alath maybe didn’t share his confidence. She couldn’t afford a high end inn, so she was stuck with the Hound, which wasn’t the worst place in the city, but you didn’t really want to let your guard down with this crowd. She signed in and paid for a room, listening to the conversation of two men sitting at the door behind her. She glanced at the Royal Guard sitting at a table, taking names, and put two and two together fairly easily. So, the palace was hiring mercenaries for some extra protection. Odd. But she wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. A job was a job as long as it paid.


So, she hoisted her bag back on her shoulder and walked over to the table, waiting for some of the other people to finish their business and move on before she finally got to look at the Royal Guard taking names. ”The palace is hiring mercenaries?” She asked curiously, glancing at the list, and then looking around with a raised brow. Her tone was… doubtful. Surely there were more polished, professional mercenaries that the royal family could afford to hire rather than this lot. Alath considered herself of higher quality than most here, both in skill and morals, but mercenaries didn’t get paid to have morals. If she were a more ruthless person, she could be running with a professional mercenary group and never want for work or money, but they took jobs that Alath wouldn’t touch. It was bad enough her honor was tainted by all this mess, she wouldn’t degrade herself even further.

 

[Ricia]

Without looking at the Mercenary that approached, the Guard with the paper started speaking what he has obviously said multiple times that night, so it sounded rather rehearsed and lazy. “Yes mercenary. The Royal family will hired your sword for a fair amount of money to guard several places in the palace that we cannot spare our own guard. If you sign up for this you will be under the command of all royal guard and royal family members. You will be required to fallow all orders and mannerisms required of you or we will send you home with no pay. Please note this is a potentially dangerous mission and may result in the loss of your life. To sign up give me your name and in the morning report to the palace gates to be admitted and assigned to the place you will guard. Food and shelter will be provided for the duration of your guard. All pay will be given at the end of the mission. Any question? If not please give me your name and meet us with the rest of your friends at dawn in front of the palace gate.”


Finally finishing the long winded answer, the royal guard scribbled down another name which was given to him from a man next to Alath.

 

[Atroxa]

Alath made a face as the well-rehearsed and long winded reply. Not that she could blame him, he probably had to answer the same question every couple minutes, but no one liked being talked to like that. So she sighed and decided that this was too good of an offer to pass by. "Alath Bint Husam," she told him, not knowing if her family's name was known in these parts or not so she said it as quietly as she could while making sure the guard could hear. She never liked dealing with the number of questions that came when people who did know her tribe (as she shared the same surname as her uncle, the tribe's Sheik, it was automatically assumed she was a member of the Husami tribe). It was another reason to leave the South, too many people knew her family, her tribe, and forced her to relive her losses, though it was never their intention. "So when and where do I report?"

 

[Ricia]

(my appoligys for the super short response. About to go run to the store.)


“You can meet us tomorrow at dawn at the palace. When you get to the gates we will call your names and split you up into groups. Then you will go where you are told. You name is taken. See you tomorrow Mercenary.” The guard said, making it oblivious that he was don’t talking to the her. The crowd around the table was starting to thin out and the Guard soon packed up perhaps an hour later. He left quickly and without a last word.


Soon the night was coming to a close and most people were beginning to leave the Seeking Hound to get back to their homes or inns.

 

[Atroxa]

Alath nodded at the simple instructions, hitched her pack up a little higher on her shoulder, and walked up the nearby stairs to her room. It was small and a bit dingy, thread bare curtains hung on the windows, and the floor creaked. But it had a roof, and there were no wild animals to worry about. Speaking of wild animals though, Alath grabbed the nearby small table and moved it in front of the door. The doors had no locks, and the table wasn't heavy enough to stop anyone from coming in, but it would make noise that would wake her up and give her warning that some one was trying to come in. She tossed her bag on the floor and carefully removed her weapons, her dagger, her scimitar, and the bracer on her left arm that held her seven throwing knives, and then peeled off a few layers of clothing until she was in her small clothes before finally crawling into the small, not very comfortable bed.


She woke in the middle of the night, fleeing another dream, and wishing she had the means to take a bath, thanks to another cold sweat forming on her skin. But she didn't. That was a luxury she didn't have access to. Alath made a face as she looked out the window, judging by the stars and color of the sky that there were still two hours until sunrise, so there was no point in going back to sleep. So she got up, got ready, and went out to the stables, waking Nasim. "What in the world are you doing up this early?" The small stallion grumbled, his ears pinned back in agitation. "We have work to do, I need to be at the palace by sunrise," she explained as she grabbed a brush to groom him, "You look a mess, and I have time, so we're going to clean you up." Nasim stopped grumbling, he liked to be groomed, since he couldn't really itch most of the places on his body very easily. She took her time, and neither of them talked, but when she was finally done, it was about time to go, so she tacked him up and headed out, towards the center of the city where the palace stood towering over every other building.


There were already a few other mercs at the gates, and Alath dismounted nearby, recognizing a couple of them and striking up some small talk to help time pass.

 

[Ricia]

(So bad at character creation... really good at plot creation... Bad at character description too)


As the Mercenaries began to slowly multiply in numbers around the gate, a few other people in the royal guard began to come out of the palace. When the gates swung open, and man began to give out instructions. When their name is called they will be assigned to a member of the Guard. From there they will do what they are told or they will be sent home without pay. If they are thought any suspicious activity they will be slain without question.


Most of the mercenaries were separated off into different groups. The group Alath was put in was smaller than the rest. There were only two other mercenaries in this group. The Guard member that stood in front of her was a woman. She was kind of tall; she was raven haired and dark skinned.


“My name is Mei, and I will be in charge of you lot. You guys are the mercenaries who we gathers information about and the results turned out rather well in your favor. You can see there are only a few people who actually live up to that standard. So that being said, you guys will be posted with the personal guard and myself, around the area with the Prince and the King themselves. I will teach you guys some basic rules for being around them.” Mei paused in her speech.


“If you come with me I will show you where to put your horses, thing , the place you will sleep, which will be in the bunks with the rest of us, and were we will be stationed for this dreadful event.” Mei motioned for the mercenaries to follow her as she led them to all the places she had mentioned.


After everything was said and done, Mei asked for the names of each of the Mercenaries

 

[Atroxa]

Alath waited with the other mercenaries as their names were called and they were grouped up. She was put into a group with only two other mercenaries she did not know. She wondered, as she looked around at the other groups, why hers was so small.


The Royal Guard that they were assigned to was a woman with dark hair and skin, standing a few inches taller than Alath. She introduced her self as Mei, and gave them a bit about them being sort of the 'cream of the crop', so to speak. It seemed that they would be helping with the personal protection of the King and Prince. This guard, Mei, would be in charge of them, and teach them the protocol of being around the Royals. Alath couldn't help but feel an old sense of pride. The King was the closest thing to loyalty she had. She had been raised to put her Sheik first, like most tribal members, but the King had been a close second. With her uncle dead, she supposed that meant she owed her loyalty to him. He was getting older, but was still well-liked. He'd fought many battles in his youth, and won most, and had lead the country in a time of peace. He was far from perfect, but compared to some tyrannical kings of the past, he was a great leader.


Alath and the others followed Guard Mei, the smaller female mercenary leading her horse along. She handed Nasim over, put away her things, and then they followed Mei on a bit of a tour. When they finally stopped and Mei asked for their names, Alath let the two men go first, then she gave her name. “Alath Bint Husam.” She nodded her head respectfully.

 

[Ricia]

Mei was so nervous this day. The night before she had received orders that she was going to be leading one of the troops, not just any of them, she was leading the lot that would be for the king themselves. She felt like part of this was going to be easy because that assured her that she would have mostly guard and little mercenary. It also assured that the mercenary, should, be good for their word and have a bit more loyalty then money. She and a feeling it still might be bad, the people that turned out for her watch.


The three mercenary that she had meet did not seem as bad as she made them out to be a day earlier. All three of them listened to her orders and moved smoothly. They all learned rather quickly and were well mannered. Whoever did the information gathering did a good job. She just hoped she did not do a bad job, if she did well in this job, her position will be permeate.


When she had finished showing the mercenaries around the area they will be, she stopped and asked for their names; Pinon, Owen, and Alath. She nodded in acceptance. Alath caught her attention a bit more than the others. Most because female warriors were extremely rare, they both knew it took a lot of talent to be even recognized as a warrior. The fact she was here in Mel’s group meant that her talent was possibly matching to her own, or better. Being female you were automatically looked down upon as incapable in any physical job. This is why she cannot screw this job up.


After the morning came to a past Mei had taught the mercenaries the majority of things they needed to know while remaining in the palace; the time of breakfast, lunch and dinner, the time of their shifts and where they will be standing for the guard duty. Mei contemplated keeping the mercenaries in one big group but then thought better of it. Instead she broke them up into four groups, she put the one of the male with a few of her other men. Then she took Alath into her own group with a few more of her guard. The rest of her own guard she split into two other groups, placing the last male into one of them. Now like this, if a mercenary steps out of line, they are outnumbered by guard, making a much less chance for mishap. Mei then set them in a rotating schedule, which ended Alath, her and the small guard for the night part of the job, starting late at night early into the morning.


Later that night, Mei gathered those who were on her guard. She ended up chewing out one of them who had shown up late. While they were walking around the area, Mei invited Alath to walk with her. Part of her really wanted to know if Alath was truly skilled or just happened to get up here because of rumors. The last time Mei checked, rumors did not define truth.


“So tell me Alath, what brings you onto this job? What beings you too Rasuul?” Mei asked, not really sure what else to ask.