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| Bed and Breakfast; [P]EKO! Eko! eko! eko... | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Thu Aug 22, 2013 1:51 pm (813 Views) | |
| Bloodknight | Tue Sep 17, 2013 2:48 am Post #31 |
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"My family?" Rurik asked, now left with only the pig steaks. He wanted to eat them. He was far from full, but he was used to finger food or food eaten off a skewer. He wasn't familiar with Imythessian silverware to start with, and add in his clunky fingers, he didn't honestly want an audience to the mangling the pig would undergo. Thinking about his family, he thought, would be a good distraction. The sudden gut and chest pangs of homesickness showed him wrong once more. "I...am long from home," he said, staring down at his plate, pushing the pig steak about with a fork. "The name, you know not, I think, but it is across the desert. I walk to here. I see them not in long time. I know not if they are well. I hope they are." He lapsed into silence a bit before recalling the second part of Mohdu's question. "And, ah," he lifted his head, "I have no 'girl.' Sorry." He left it at that. Explaining more always ended up too complicated and embarrassing. |
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| Lady Eko | Tue Sep 17, 2013 5:30 pm Post #32 |
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Mohdu watched Rurik shovel around the pork loin, but thought it best not to mention it. "I see..." Just from the tone of his response, it was easy to tell that the proprietor had misinterpreted the reason why Rurik had no wife or girlfriend. This brought to mind something, and his eyes dipped down to Rurik's hands. Strange -- there were obvious bands of pale skin on his fingers. "You missing some rings?" The first thing Eko did upon reentering the dungeon-room was to kill all the lights. She turned off every lantern, then went over to draw the curtains over the barred windows to block any lantern-light from outside. Within a few silent seconds, the whole room was filled with murky, pitch blackness. Eko sighed almost contentedly, her sensitive eyes relieved from their strain. She saw that Ms. Weber was sitting tensed on the rocking chair, eyes unfocused. "Uh...?" The sound fished for an explanation or motive. "A foreigner once told me that the greatest soldier is one who has nothing to lose. I disagree, under certain conditions. But in some cases..." "Why did you turn off all the lights?" Weber interrupted. She didn't sound scared, just uncertain. "I don't think you're a very good soldier, is what I'm trying to say. There's something holding you back. A reason to still be afraid." "Everyone is afraid to die." "I don't agree. Some people can work their way into a person's mind so utterly that they would be glad to die for that person, or that person's cause. That's not you. Maybe you were a troublemaker, or got forced into this job. Doesn't matter what, exactly. What matters is that sense of doubt you still have, however small you think it is. I can use that..." Eko paced slowly across the room, barely making any sound. Weber's eyes still hadn't adjusted to the darkness, so she stared straight on ahead but kept her attention following the sound of Eko's soft voice. She stopped. "You're going to help me out." |
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| Bloodknight | Tue Sep 17, 2013 6:09 pm Post #33 |
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Another pang in his stomach, this one far deeper, struck Rurik, and it wasn't dulled through years of acceptance at his chosen path. He looked down at his hands once more. He'd regained his poncho, which he was grateful for, but.... "Yes," he said. "I..." More pain from shame and embarrassment halted his words. He could barely believe his stupidity, but he forced himself to recall that, besides the stupidity, there was the hunger, the exhaustion, the confusion toward what was day and night. "I...I lose them...in the warehouse." He slumped a bit more in his seat. "Fortread say 'You work not with jewelery on. You lose a finger. You afford it not.' I argue. I try, but..." He touched the two empty fingers. "I take them off. I...I believe Fortread keep them well...." Another sigh. "I...think they are gone. Fortread is... not a good man." Either they'd been sold for far, far less than their true worth, or they were buried in the rubble of the warehouse, soon to be found and taken by scavengers. He forced a smile on his face and looked back up. "But...It is well I keep them this long, yes?" he said with a hint of cheer. "I hold memories still. They are much important to rings. This is true." He picked up his fork and knife, began to cut the steak, then recalled he wasn't certain on the mechanics of it. First, he had to stab the pig with the fork, and he did so with an overhead jab as though he held a dagger, not a utensil. Then, he simply needed to cut. He cut things all the time with a sword. This was only a more small scale example of that. Again, like gripping a sword hilt, he brought the down to the pork, attempting to slice clean through on the first attempt. Not only was the knife too dull for this, however, his fists began bumping into each other, causing the fork to pop free from the meat. Flustered, he stabbed again, then began sawing at the meat, worried about putting too much pressure on the meat in case he damaged the plate. This, combined with how both hands still managed to get in each others way, meant he made quite a bit of motion but little process. Edited by Bloodknight, Tue Sep 17, 2013 6:25 pm.
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| Lady Eko | Tue Sep 17, 2013 9:47 pm Post #34 |
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Hurrying to avoid getting the plate destroyed, Mohdu placed a hand on Rurik's wrist to stop him. "Heh-- you know, it'd probably work better if you used your fingers. No one's here to judge." He grinned sheepishly, baring teeth. Once both of them had settled down, the man picked up his empty plate and walked it over to the washtank. "Fortread was the taskmaster, right? Those guys aren't as rich as they seem. He probably pawned them off. Making a little money off the record from all those little personal effects. I'll tell Eko about it when I can. She'll try to track down everyone's keepsakes, but no guarantees -- and it's definitely not her highest priority right now." Bootsteps heralded Eko's return. As always, her face gave no indication of success or failure. "Browne & Boone is a puppet company of Corrine Kane." "Never heard of the broad." "She's one of the Nochescen 'Foxes.' Basically one of Balefire's most important exporters of... all kinds of things." It was common knowledge that some Lords of Balefire had elites that reflected their specialty. Lady Nochesce was most famous for her lantern company, but her politics heavily pushed for increased trade with other nationstates. Nochescen Foxes were supposedly quite terrifying, rumored to have both silver tongues and deadly assassination skills -- though more on the lines of poisoning and set-ups instead of sneaking and stabbing. They were also very difficult to track. So difficult that Eko would need a lot more proof before she was totally convinced that she'd managed to peg her newest enemy's identity. Eko sat down at the bar. "So what do you want to do now?" "The Lady thinks I attacked her again. If we survive the retaliation, we'll come up with a way to kill Corrine Kane." She looked sidelong at Rurik. "I'll give you any weapons or armor you need. If you know anything about fortifications or defensive combat, meet me and my construction workers outside once you're done." Without even waiting for an answer, she left. |
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| Bloodknight | Wed Sep 18, 2013 12:37 am Post #35 |
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Rurik flinched when Mohdu grasped his wrist. Rurik glanced up. "Heh," The bartender said, giving a half grin. "You know, it'd probably work better if you used your fingers. No one's here to judge." "Ah...thank you," Rurik said, putting the silverware down. "I use not forks much before." Though he knew it failed to be polite, he picked up one of the pig steaks between his fingers, tore out a bite, and chewed a bite of the seasoned, succulent, and satisfyingly chewy meat. "Good," He said after swallowing. "Thank you." Mohdu offered as he ate to tell Eko about the rings. There was a chance they might be found, though the barkeep remain realistic about the chances. Before Rurik could respond, both their attentions turned toward the stairs and the bootsteps that heralded Eko's return. She kept her expression blank, as always. Knowing more of her position, Rurik wondered if she'd ever feel permitted to show her feelings. "Browne & Boone is a puppet company of Corrine Kane." "Never heard of the broad," Mohdu said. Neither had Rurik, but he expected that. "She's one of the Nochescen 'Foxes.' Basically one of Balefire's most important exporters of... all kinds of things." Eko settled at the bar. Rurik realized he still held the steak in his hand and put it back on the plate, licking his fingers clean. "So what do you want to do now?" Mohdu asked her. "The Lady thinks I attacked her again. If we survive the retaliation, we'll come up with a way to kill Corrine Kane. I'll give you any weapons or armor you need," she said as she turned toward Rurik. "If you know anything about fortifications or defensive combat, meet me and my construction workers outside once you're done." With that, she left again, her stride steady and purposeful. "Ah, Mohdu?" Rurik asked, "I give you the look of the rings, you give it to Eko, please?" He knew the look of them as clearly if they were before him: silver bands set with a purple stone that the Istani tongue called "orj'uan" with an inscription and symbol within he attempted to sketch out on scrap paper, but even he admitted it was only a rough copy of the Tarbathin script. He finished his pig, thanked Mohdu again, and hurried outside toward the gathered group, taking his place in the back of the group to watch over the shoulders of others. |
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| Lady Eko | Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:04 am Post #36 |
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It was beginning to drizzle outside. Eko looked up at the sky, black as always. The mist falling on her face felt nice. "I apologize for interrupting your work. I have a new project for you all. It involves the success or failure of a design. If our design fails, there may be no one left to pay you." She pointed at the building. "Until further notice, this isn't an inn or a tavern. It's a base. We need to make it as close a thing to a fortress as we can." Hands clasped behind her back, the young woman stepped through the crowd of construction workers. "A standard Gloomwood frame with a stone brick basement. There are four access points: roof, back, front, and west side. Windows lining every floor. I own all the properties adjacent to Mohdu's -- a secret I can no longer afford to keep, but now you know there's a buffer zone. Expect a heavy assault from any angle." "Just when do you expect to be attacked?" a hauler raised his hand to ask. "I'll let you know when I have more specific information. My best guess is that Lady Nochesce will rally her puppet groups for a large-scale annihilation as soon as she finds out that explosion didn't destroy us." Whispers spread through the group at the mention of Lady Nochesce. "Switch your mode of thinking from renovations to military. Think about where we can entrench defenders, build fortifications, and which parts of the building we should strengthen or block off. The only way we'll be able to survive is to partition or funnel the attackers somehow. If you have any design ideas, please call them out now." |
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| Bloodknight | Wed Sep 18, 2013 2:36 pm Post #37 |
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Rurik listened as various suggestions and ideas were shouted out, but, from the back of the crowd, the whispering he heard most was "We don't know anything about this. We're builders, not soldiers. What do we know about this?" And Rurik realized he, too, knew nothing of this. He would, normally, and he knew quite a bit about fighting in small groups, but his own curriculum on defensive warfare never grew beyond the basics after the day he placed down his shield and abandoned his role as a warrior. Though he'd picked it back up, it didn't miraculously give him new knowledge, only a reminder of how much information he'd lost. When it came to urban warfare, or any warfare, the only knowledge he held were from old histories and tales. He doubted Eko would wish to know how the Shield and Sword Eshwin and Kavrik secured the Berentine Prison Keep from marauders hoping to free and recruit the prisoners, or how Nereshin and Jvost infiltrated the citizens of Mezej Province to force the armies to fight a war both within and without. Or maybe she wouldn't mind, if he extracted the more practical parts of the tales and left out the rest. It must be more than everyone else had, and it stood as the one subject he knew he knew well. "I hold ideas?" He called out, raising a hand. Eyes shift toward him, and he found himself the sudden focus of attention. He bumped his fists together, but forced his head to remain high. His mother would smack him if she knew how much he slumped earlier. "They are simple, and I am sorry if you speak them before, but..." He forced his shoulders back. He might only know from historical campaigns, most of which didn't apply here because they didn't have a fortress and they didn't have a city of people upset at the resources being poured into a war and not into itself, but he knew there had to be basic patterns to follow, just like in language. He'd not read just stories from a book, he'd gone over the actual historical accounts from first and second hand witnesses, even the journals of those old Swords and Shields. "First, ah..." And language tripped him up. He knew what he wished to say, and realized he was going to sound like an idiot child if he wanted it said. "We make strong the far part of the field, first line. We make strong next the inn, final line. Look next to make strong between. If people here, you ask help to clog streets big and small. You use chairs, beds, tables, what is here. You make strong, but you make holes to strike into. The enemy is to use ladders and to climb. You ready for this. "You are to check cellar. Old buildings hold old walls and old doors that are walls now. You block cellar doors to slow cellar attack. Sky attack, it is possible. You are to prepare place for archers. They see much, but the enemy see them not. "We hold enough supplies? The enemy strike us not, but it hold us here. We die of no food and water, the enemy win. "And...ah..." He came to the point where he realized that all those tactics and ideas came from a land where magic wasn't commonly deployed or used among the people. Here, where learning to cast magic was as natural as learning to read and write, he couldn't rule out the potential use of magic, however. "I know not magic," He stated plainly. "I know not how to use or how to stop magic. All who know? You are to speak, to help in this." He fell silent after that, realizing everything he said likely took up everyone's time and offered nothing new. At least he'd spoken his peace, he assured himself. |
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| Lady Eko | Thu Sep 26, 2013 4:13 pm Post #38 |
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Eko was about to pass Rurik, but froze when he started speaking. She kept her eyes trained on him the whole time. A silence followed, then muttering spread through the crowd of construction workers. "I'm less worried about the sky and more worried about the rooftops." She indicated the skyline of Chimaera Street, where they currently stood. Low, flat rooftops dominated, and the buildings were so closely packed together that someone with average athleticism could just jump between them. Roof access for several of them was as easy as climbing an external staircase or running a short distance up the walls to grab the eave. If the attackers could climb roofs, they could entirely bypass whatever barricades they could make. Though the idea of barricades was clearly a good one, since Chimaera Street and its adjoining alleys were extremely narrow. "We need to restrict their movements as much as possible while allowing my own men to be as mobile as possible." "Maybe oil the rooftops in front of the barricade?" Eko turned to the source of the voice. It came from one of the least expected people in the crowd: a pale-skinned orc that was part of the foundation-building crew. "You can make pretty good booby traps from household things..." A new voice added, "And rig the closest rooftops to cave." The girl was about Eko's age, walking out of the front door to Mohdu's. She looked human, but her ears were those of a cat, silver-furred and tufted at the ends. The werecat grinned fangs at Eko. "Say, Ketta, how does this sound..." Eko succinctly paraphrased Rurik's plan, then made a few additions. This elicited almost villainous giggles from the werecat. "All this plotting without us! We finally got Eddy downstairs. Just waiting for you at this point." In truth, Eko's 'strategists' were close friends and important business owners under her protection. Their input was nonetheless valuable. A smile faintly tugged at the upstart's lips. "You, you, and you, go down and block off the cellar door downstairs. You, find Enric Roldan and tell him to unlock the emergency supplies." Her index finger went from the orc to Rurik in turn. "You two, follow me. The rest of you, start on the barricade. Clean out the whole building if you have to." Eko synched the final strap on her pitch-black leather armor. She slid a dark blue longcoat over it, pulled up a black scarf to cover the bottom half of her face. Her hair was tied into a messy bun to keep locks out of her eyes. Hurrying, she opened one of her drawers to reveal a clunky-looking metal contraption resting on a bed of cloth. It slid over her fist and forearm like a glove, pieces clicking and grinding to tighten over her hand. She tied her whip loosely on her belt hook, checked all her knives. Then Eko marched out of the room. Ketta dropped from the Mohdu rafters and landed next to Eko. "Contact. First spark-flare went off from the east." The distal archers and crossbowmen were to throw a delayed-release flare into the street to signal whenever they first fired their weapons or witnessed a booby trap trigger. "Bring me details." The werecat hurried away, transforming into a small feline mid-step to facilitate her own movement. Hidden by her stoicism, Eko's gut sank. Nochesce had been even faster than she predicted in a worst-case scenario. They'd finished the outer, proximal and cellar fortifications and everyone was in position, but the middle was unfinished and several of the more potentially deadly booby traps would lie unmade. Eko rushed up the stairs and entered the roof access. Standing at the top of Mohdu's, one of the tallest buildings on Chimaera Street and the surrounding side-streets, she elongated a spyglass. Bulky Ansha lumbered up after her, poking her nose out of the roof access but unable to navigate the sloping roof itself. Keeping behind makeshift cover, Eko turned her glass not to the eastern approach of Chimaera Street, but to the western. They had succeeded in pushing everyone out of Chimaera Street that wasn't Ekonen. Simply being told that a huge battle was going to go down on the street was enough to get even the most stubborn civilian to leave. As the evacuation proceeded, civilians were told that anyone who approached within a certain radius of the growing barricades would be treated as an enemy and lethal force would be used in self-defense. Someone was walking straight down the street. Absolutely terrible choice. But Eko knew better. She watched the woman, dressed in practical finery, a knowing smile on her face. Her steps stopped. An arrow flew through the darkness toward her back. Eko's view was filled with light as a blindingly white beam burst from a point behind the woman, hit the arrow mid-arc, struck the point of origin and pierced the entire corner of the building where she new a sniper was positioned. Her eyes widened. She pulled a flare from its holster on her belt and cracked it over her knee, spilling blue sparks everywhere. Eko hurled it into the street in front of Mohdu's. Crackling blue light indicated an emergency situation involving magic -- standby for further orders. The woman swept a beam across the top of the outer barricade, forcing the soldiers to duck down and scramble along the back edge. That left a gap without a chance for them to return fire. She sunk into a stable stance, held out her hands and placed her fists together. A two-dimensional rune appeared in front of her hands, spiraling complexity as it forced light energy to wind up as a growing-size point in front of it. Eko's legs tensed. Her soldiers, expecting anything but light magic, began to rout toward the second, half-finished barrier. Powerful emotions pumped in Eko's blood. Her breathing quickened, became a slight growl. Anger. Do not engage them personally! Eko remembered Mohdu insisting during the strategic meeting. This is war. If the commander falls... "Get out of there!" Eko roared. The beam struck. One explosion out the back of the first barricade. Pierced the second, too. And the third. Smoldering, red-hot hole of wood. The light cast the woman's face in stark detail and Eko thought, amidst all the chaos, that she had seen this person before. This person who almost certainly was Corrine Kane, a Noschescen elite. You are small. Your voice is gentle and you lack the presence of a commander. Hide your true strength until the critical moment. Eko tossed three more colored flares into the street. They popped and sparked for all within the barriers to see. Violet, meaning the outer barricade was breached. Orange, meaning the middle barricade was breached. And red -- the ultimate emergency, meaning the closest and strongest barricade had a hole punched through it. And that was when Eko sighted huge groups of people appearing in the west and east approach alike. Covered in shadows, they had no fear. She couldn't stand idly by anymore. Eko ran to the edge of Mohdu's roof fortifications and vaulted over, heading west. |
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8:18 AM Jul 11

