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Post by Torrin Larontir on Aug 24, 2013 22:29:30 GMT -5
Torrin had traveled to the bustling trade city following the river that the city used as it's main life-line. Trade ships clogged the channel constantly, ships moving down-river into the sea to bring their goods across all of Azoria. The trade city was the main hub for all of the huge Egaian Empire. Torrin had to tread carefully on these lands, if anyone where to find out his affiliation with the Rebel Alliance, he would surely be captured and made an example of. As he traveled along the well worn path along the river, the deep ruts of wagons got deeper and deeper as he approached the city, the trail becoming more congested. It is a marvel and a shame how quickly the wooded forests and rolling plains give way to civilization so quickly Torrin thought to himself, as he passed the many farms that surrounded the city, and fed it. The city to the elf was like an ever expanding machine, that ate up the landscape as it grew, and it would not stop. Many lands of the Egaian Empire were under threat as the super-power grew at an exponential rate, it might even effect the balance of all of Azoria if it was not halted, these were grim times indeed for the Peacekeeper, and Elf.
Troubling thoughts aside, he was at the gates within half a day after encountering the first few irrigated fields. The nerve center of a beast that stretched for miles around it was within his sight now, it's tall gates looming over him, and casting a shadow along the surrounding square in front of the open gates as the sun began to set. Traffic flowed freely in and out of the city, and not even a second glance was spared at Torrin as he strolled in, a bow clearly visible poking out of his quiver. He could not tell why this city was so notorious for it's crime, along with it's corruption.
Torrin was here specifically to seek out the source of this corruption. The red hand, a powerful organization that had it's fingers in everything in the city, from trade to law. In all intents and purposes, the Egaian Empire no longer ran the city, one named Saeryn Larontir did. Yes, this individual did have the same surname as Torrin, but he would never believe the crime boss to be of his family. His family had sent him on this honorable mission to take care of the imposter, lest the family name be dirtied by the pretender. Now, why the imposter chose his family's name, Torrin did not know, perhaps it was because of his family's great prestige in Sylavea, which supported the Rebel Alliance, who paid top dollar for supplies from Egaia to fight the rebellion. Torrin would not be surprised if The Red Hand supported the alliance, for if they were successful, they could potentially grab more power in the turmoil that would ensue throughout the Egaian provinces. Torrin narrowed his eyes, a clever foe indeed.
Torrin spent hour or so before darkness fell upon the city doing some reconnaissance around the market, asking various merchants many things, he tried to be discreet, but many merchants refused to answer his questions, the corruption of Nobaltica was much deeper than he thought, many of the traders were too afraid to say anything lest they be hunted down by the powerful crime organization. Torrin would have to be more discreet. For now, he retired to a small inn along the fringe of the Market district, just far enough away to hear to bustle of the market square through the night without it being overly loud.
Hopefully tomorrow will bring more useful intel.
Word Count: 620 OOC: He's sleeping now, perfect time to strike o:
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Post by Saeryn on Aug 27, 2013 19:55:56 GMT -5
The market district never slept. Torrin's observation of Nobalitica wasn't too far off, like a great machine the gears continued to move. Even as the sun sank and the merchants closed their stalls the constant movement of people only seemed to slow, not die like in most cities. Even as midnight drew closer the city didn't seem to full fall asleep. Criminals were well awake, cons being played, break ins taking place, and gang violence drawing the lines of the territory of the competing gangs in blood. City guards, over worked and over pressured, took on their night routes, a fair number of them so deep in the pocket of the red hand that they were closer to taking a midnight stroll then actually enforcing the law. The taverns and bars only swelled with patrons. Many of the lower class in the tavern district often spent the day's coin sinking deeper into the bottle. One of the taverns was linked to the red hand, the howling tavern was one of the bars that was unashamed of their foul patrons. The markings of the red hand were clear to see from the simple tapestries that hung from the walls. The tavern was packed, of all the places of Nobalitica that never slept this was one of them. Many of the patrons were red hand, or at the very least had some business with the gang of psychotic cutthroats. But it was favored by the criminals by the slice of luxury that was difficult to find in the tavern district. It seems as if the tavern had put the influx of money to good use. Expansions to the building itself had obviously taken place, and the mismatched materials showed that it haste was a priority, giving the bar's architecture a more ramshackle nature. However the expansions had their purpose, backroom for favored or wealthy patrons had fine furniture, fine booze and more importantly privacy. It was one of these backrooms that was designed specifically to the matron that had ensured the success of the owners. Saeryn's presence could practically be felt the second they started to add to the bar. Not only was her symbol proudly displayed everywhere in flagrant disregard of any lawbringers that would look this way, but much of the bar was actually designed to accommodate Saeryn's unique body.
The matron of the red hand herself was in her personal room. This was the finest that the howling wind could acquire, many of the pieces Saeryn had donated herself. Waitresses moved back and fourth, striving to ensure that their charges were comfortable with the food and drink that they served. Many of them passing by the unmistakable form of Saeryn, paying special attention to her seeing as they were familiar with the wrathful woman. Her gown was much more simple then she usually wore. Saeryn wasn't showing off her status to those that would doubt her purely because of her body, instead this was simple business. Lieutenants and leaders of warbands were accompanying her, each of them dividing up gold and coin while every coin was cataloged. Saeryn didn't seem particularly entertained, but there was money to be made, and the blood in the water ensured that it was necessary business to her.
This was part of the inner workings of the red hand, despite the amount of money on the table it was a small part of the beast consuming Nobalitica. Simple protection rackets, market stall owners giving Larontir her cut or else. Money went to the right hands of Larontir's men, into the right pockets of Nobalitica's law enforcement. It was merely money changing hands. There was idle chatter, it one of the lowest ranking members among the assembled criminals that managed to catch Saeryn's attention, "One of the market stalls was trying to get out of his payments. Apparently some elf ranger was looking for Saeryn and he thought that'd show some sort of loyalty to try and slip out of his fees." Saeryn looked up from what she was writing, her many eyes showing the sudden interest. Unlike the simple cutthroats Saeryn was more familiar with elven culture, and so the mere mention of a ranger, "A ranger out here?" The man that mentioned it didn't expect it to perk so much of his boss's interest. He stopped what he was doing, "So what exactly did the merchant tell you about this ranger?"
Saeryn skittered down the street, her 8 legs allowing for her to glide along the street. Several other men walked alongside her. Red hand warpaint clear to see as well as their weapons, two handed splitting axes and hand axes. The detail about this newcomer were very skimp, but Saeryn was familiar to just how many prominent figures in the elven kingdoms wanted to see her destroyed. So some answers were needed. Why was he here, and why did he want her. Saeryn's staff was in her hand when she entered the small inn. Being in the tavern district meant that the owner wasn't unfamiliar with the woman stepping through his door. The sight of the red hand ready for war as well as their leader ensured that he was frightened when he tried to answer. It wouldn't take much for Saeryn to get a name and room.
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Post by Torrin Larontir on Sept 6, 2013 21:03:05 GMT -5
Torrin turned over once again, he had been trying to fall asleep for almost an hour now. The uncomfortable cot, along with the noisy city did not permit him to do so. That coupled with the potential leads he had to follow tomorrow, he could not keep his mind off of it.
Sighing, he stood up, the old wooden floor creaking as he made his way to the small window in his room looking over the dark side street leading to the little inn. Only the occasional rat scurried throughout the dark streets disappearing down into the dark sewers, the only light was from a lampost near the entrance to the side street. It gave the street an eerie, casting long shadows down the cobbled road.
Torrin gazed at one rat's shadow in particular as it scurried about, the shadow dancing along the side street. Soon, the rat's shadow was engulfed in the shadow of something else, the sound of it's scurrying drowned out by the heavy steps of several men, their armored boots clinking on the cobbled road. In the midst of them Torrin caught glance of a woman, staff in hand. As the light caught the group for a moment, he could see a flash of red. Instinctively Torrin retreated from the light that shone through his window, seeking refuge in the dark room. Surely they weren't coming for him? Chances of that became much more doubtful as he heard the door open, and the same sound of armored boots beneath him.
He had to think quickly, the elf started by slipping on his boots, and grabbing his bow and quiver, he only wore his simple tunic and breeches, he had no time to put on his armor, hopefully the red hand was only coming here to collect a debt the innkeeper owed or something.
Opening the door carefully he made his way out into the dark hallway, flinching every time the creaky floor gave him away again. He was the third door down from the stairs, only one more door until the end of the hall from his room. Even so, he was at the top of the stairs leading up in a few moments. From the dark hall way above he soon caught a glimpse of the group and the woman, she seemed to be questioning the inn's owner, he caught one word from the innkeeper's lips, 'elf'. With this Torrin retreated back into the shadows as the group turned towards the stairs now, drawing his bow he took aim at the man in the front of the group. Breathing in, he nocked two arrows, aiming for the leading man and the one behind him, in a few moments they would be up the stairs. As he thought over the situation in the few moments, he knew this would not be the best course of action, even if he did take down the two of them, there was still another three men and the woman who was probably a sorceress. As fast as he could silently he retreated into his room again, quickly throwing all of the belongings he could in his bag before going for the window. He cursed under his breath when he realized it was stuck shut, who knew how long it had been since the window opened? Drawing his dagger, he broke the window with it's pommel, they definitely knew what he was up to now, so he wasted no time and started to climb out the window.
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Post by Saeryn on Sept 9, 2013 21:31:08 GMT -5
The innkeeper was practically shaking when Saeryn towered over him. Anyone who lived in Nobaltica knew who Saeryn was, and she was difficult to mistake for someone else. He didn't refuse when Saeryn asked for the room with the elf ranger. When the red hand was out for war he wasn't going to put his neck on the chopping block for some ranger that he didn't know. He told her what floor and what room. Saeryn skittered away, grinning as she moved upstairs. The Redhand circled around the hallways, trying to keep both entrances to the upper floors secure to make sure that their quarry wasn't going to try and simple make a break for it, their boss was here watching over them so failing here wouldn't end well. They didn't rush their approach of the room, while not an entirely stealthy approach due to their armor their hurried pace would alert anyone in the rooms.
Unfortunately the breaking of the glass showed that their presence was known. Immediately the fighters rushed to the door, twisting the handle to find that it was locked. They tried to batter down the door with their shoulders before Saeryn began to spit orders at them, "Circle around, he's going to be in the streets" The soldiers only hesitated for a second before they rushed downstairs. Saeryn tapped into the winds of magic, a light mist surrounding her hand before she held her hand towards the door, a lance of ice burst from her hand, freezing the lock before one of her taloned feet struck the door, the frozen handle and lock shattered. Saeryn took a few steps into the room, the window was broken, the room deserted.
Saeryn started to move downstairs, in the wake of her fighters. It seems as if Saeryn's little hunch had paid off. At the very least this ranger had something to hide from the baroness. By now curiosity was quickly growing into an obsession for Saeryn, she would gleefully pry it from him by force.
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Post by Torrin Larontir on Oct 11, 2013 20:14:12 GMT -5
Climbing out the window, Torrin pushed off the window sill landing on a sign that hung out over the street, advertising the inn. It creaked loudly before he hopped off it, landing in the street. The warriors of the red-hand were already upon him however. As he landed, he barely ducked as one of them swung their gigantic axe overhead. With the dodge, the warrior needed time to recover the heavy weapon, giving Torrin enough time to dart away, he did not see any of the warriors having ranged weapons, so the best thing to do would be to put distance between them.
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Post by Saeryn on Nov 30, 2013 2:49:48 GMT -5
Saeryn quickly moved through the bottom level of the tavern. Several of her fighters moved alongside her brandishing their weapons. They knew that whoever brought Saeryn her prize would be getting a hefty bonus from the matron of the Red Hand. She briefly glanced over to the barkeeper, the man was trembling behind the bar trying to not get involved in this fight. When Saeryn stepped outside in the cold of the night of Nobalitica she saw the ranger dodging a axe blow from one of her fighters. She finally caught a glance at the elf being caught in the lamplight. She noticed the symbol near his neck. He was clearly marked out as a ranger from the elven kingdoms, so the merchant rat wasn't lying to her. She shouted to him, taunting him while she approached, "I don't know why the homeland wants me. But I'm sure that we'll find out once I rip it from you." He didn't stick around for the losing fight, instead wanting to run away.
Saeryn shouted to the man who had almost disemboweled her quarry, "I want him alive!" The moment of hesitation from her order allowed for the ranger to slink away, quickly moving through the empty stalls in the market. Saeryn summoned her magic once again, spirals of both her dark magic and ice span around her warm, weaving their way up her staff before a beam of ice lanced out. One of the stalls right next to the elf was coated with ice meant to freeze him in place. She looked down to the red hand, some of them hesitating to give chase, "Cut him off, whoever catches him is going to be a rich man." Saeryn didn't need her men to catch him, only bog him down so that Saeryn could freeze him in place. Even if he did fell one of her warriors Saeryn had no qualms using her magic to use their corpse to continue the pursuit. She spoke with authority. He wasn't in his forests anymore, and the red hand knew this territory and had allies in the local people. He was living on borrowed time.
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Post by Torrin Larontir on Nov 30, 2013 17:07:02 GMT -5
Torrin ran as fast as he could, seeking to disappear within the crowd. He moved rather quickly in his light armor, which was much lighter than anything he had seen those red hand thugs in. He avoided everyone in his path, dodging in and out of the crowd. A few times he had to dive through a stall, and rolling to his feet on the opposite side to continue. As he did so once, over a meats stall, he caught a flash of the stall freezing solid within moments, Torrin's face was inches away as he sailed over the frozen stall. He turned to see, to his dismay that the warriors were still giving chase, pushing roughly through crowds and knocking people and stalls to the ground in their hurry, their leader close behind them, her staff raised ready to cast another spell.
Torrin finally reached the opposite end of the market, turning down a dark alley quickly, to get out of the line of sight of the sorceress. Once he got to the end of the alley, it was a dead end however, and the warriors were bearing down behind him. Torrin did not waste a moment however, jumping up and grabbing onto the top of a door frame before jumping to a window sill nearby, and then into a balcony. In this fashion he scaled up the wall until he was on the roof top of the two story building, and the warriors hadn't seen him. The elf ducked low, on the dark roof top peering down at the warriors below. As they came into the alley they searched everywhere, even in a few nearby dumpsters but they didn't find him. They seemed pretty frustrated, which Torrin smirked at. The Sorceress had not entered the alley yet from what he had seen.
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Post by Saeryn on Dec 1, 2013 22:23:02 GMT -5
The few people that were on the streets stood and watched the fight breaking out. But once the ranger tried to flee into the markets, and magic to cause wanton destruction they immediately scattered. They didn't provide much cover for the elf, as many of them could easily see that these viscous thugs wanted blood. They split up and perused their prey. Saeryn stayed in the back, by now the reckless use of my magic was causing some of her blackened blood to bleed from her eyes. She didn't care, she scuttled forward, passing by some of the stalls now coated in ice. They followed him Saeryn thought that she had him when they he was cut off in an alley, but the shouts that he was missing called out. Saeryn rounded the corner to see that he was nowhere to be seen. She growled in frustration, by now the tears had formed two black streaks down her face, "Find him, Now!" The ranger may have avoided her, but time was on her side. The guards wouldn't come here, what few Nobaltican guards did patrol this portion of the town were over taxed and many of them were firmly in the pocket of Saeryn, they knew better then the interfere with her matters.
Saeryn skittered alongside of the row of buildings, knowing that he was here somewhere. She called out to him, "Your in my land now, nowhere to run and we will dig you out of wherever your hiding." The people of this town were loyal to her, the rat from the market wasn't the only one who would've leaked information. Several of the people knew that being on the red hand's good side would ensure their life and prosperity. "You were searching for me, and here I am. I want to know why the homeland wants me. I will pry it from you one way or another."
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Post by Torrin Larontir on Dec 2, 2013 18:13:32 GMT -5
When the crime boss of the Red Hand entered the dark alley he peered into from above on the rooftops, Torrin drew his bow, nocking an arrow and watching quietly from the shadows as she spoke. Her words were empty to him. Sure, this might be her territory, but so far it did not seem any of her grunts were equipped to run the rooftops. He figured if he needed he could traverse the city along the rooftops and find a way over the wall from them. He had to do this during the cover of the night however, once morning came, the guards along the walls would be able to easily spot him. So escape seemed planned out for Torrin. He drew the bow then, the point of the arrow shimmering in the moonlight as he took aim, aiming for the crime boss's heart.
He hoped he wouldn't have to come to this, assassinating her, that is, but he knew someone such as her could not be reasoned with. As he exhaled and took aim however, a small dog in a balcony nearby started yapping at him from the nearby building, taller than the one he stood on. Instantly all the guards' heads turned up and one pointed and yelled something. Torrin, frustrated and now in a haste that his cover was blown took the shot, not looking to see if it hit before turning and jumping to the next roof adjacent to the one he was on.
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Post by Saeryn on Dec 5, 2013 19:21:55 GMT -5
Saeryn was dealing with a professional. Her taunts and threats did nothing, he realized that he had the advantage by hiding and so he wasn't going to play into Saeryn's hand. However the fates had other ideas in mind. A dog barking brought all eyes on the rooftops, and in an instant the ranger was exposed once again. He let loose an arrow, it struck Saeryn with a glancing blow, ripping a large gash along her dress and her shoulder. It was even further ruined by the oily black blood that formed a rapidly growing stain. Saeryn burning rage became a bright flash of anger, she was through with the restraint.
Saeryn screamed in rage as she raised her staff, the pale blue strands of vapor changed, a black gloom creeping along them, it grew in density and became more and more active, the lazy spirals became a violently writhing mass. She was drawing more and more from the winds of magic, what began as streaks of tears was now joined by a streak of blood running from the side of her mouth. Saeryn was more then willing to bleed herself dry to get her revenge. When she let her spell lose a dark bolt lanced from her staff. It left a large contrail as the large sphere of destructive negative energy screamed towards the building. It smashed into the structure, dissolving sending spears of wood flying as other parts of the wreckage dissolved, the side of the structure partially collapsed. Saeryn couldn't see through the dust, but she had aimed low to try and bring him back to the ground, bruised maybe but hopefully alive.
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