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| The Difficulties of Wading Upstream; [P] Bloodeye | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sat Sep 14, 2013 3:16 pm (253 Views) | |
| Lady Eko | Sat Sep 14, 2013 3:16 pm Post #1 |
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No ally of Eko wanted to bring up the obvious fact that traveling through Balefire was becoming more and more difficult by the night. They assumed that Eko's reason for doing so was important enough that its seeming frivolity could've hidden a more pragmatic motivation, or was an act of deception in itself. Due to the nature of the trip -- they were headed closer to central Balefire, a hotbed of Lord control -- Eko had to devise a special formation for her bodyguards. Instead of the typical six or seven keeping within direct, protective range, she intended to spread them out enough that they could spot danger from a distance and communicate that to her in an efficient manner. Only one bodyguard remained close at her side: Enric Roldan, her chief security officer and a lifelong friend. Her bodyguard team tried to convince her to ride a horse to the occasion, but she had staunchly refused. In an emergency, horses were a limit to her mobility, not a boon. Just a few days earlier Lord Kelok, an influential entity in terms of the sheer amount of space he controlled, had made a declaration that greatly altered the ways that Eko would be able to fight her multi-fronted war for survival. Signs were posted all over his territory, which cut a swathe through huge sections of north, northwestern, central and southern Balefire. Their message was simple and direct. "Effective on the 9th night of the 9th month, all Ekonen discovered on the property of those loyal to Lord Kelok the Gangkiller are to be killed on sight and their heads turned in to Kelok Manor for a status-dependent bounty." They had pushed together tables in Eko's headquarters, which had been in lockdown for four weeks now, and set upon it a large street map of Balefire. Then they got to work blacking out any part of Balefire they knew had some connection to Lord Kelok. They blacked out a patchwork of taverns, blacksmiths, armories, tanneries, bazaars, warehouses, stables, roadways, bridges, residential neighborhoods, and even a couple tradeway entrances into and out of the city. Eko had looked on, feeling the pressure. It was another set of walls being built around her, to stunt her growth. And Lord Kelok wasn't her only powerful enemy. Ever since Eko made that mistake, misjudging the loyalty of a property she seized, many eyes had turned to her. Both strong and weak could find some reason to oppose her. The Lords of Balefire in general didn't take to the idea of someone growing in power as fast as she was. It could only mean bad things for them. They knew to kill potential competitors while they were still young and weak. Those she'd directly interacted with jumped on her, all with their own unique motivations and methods for doing so. They weren't typically united, but they were relentless. This war for survival was tipping expeditiously and overwhelmingly against her. Now they had to cross a narrow band of Keloken territory in order to round up to their destination. Eko wore a hooded cloak and a bandanna over her face to mask as much of her identity as possible. She also tried to keep to the rooftops whenever she could. Walking streetside increased the risk of her or Enric being spotted. Her bodyguards pulled off the formation expertly; they crossed without having to kill anyone. That didn't mean they could rest easy. When so many people in Balefire were tied by so many invisible strings of loyalty, there was nowhere in the city outside her territory that was safe. Her bodyguards looked twitchy and ready to kill anyone who so much as looked at them funny. They were the ones that survived all those grand opening attacks. Bernard, for example, saw his friend die during Lady Nochesce's bombastic declaration of war. He looked almost as dead-eyed as Eko herself. Finally they reached the address that Eko told them marked their destination. It was a normal-looking house. "Who lives here?" Enric said. "I need everyone except Enric posted at all entry points. Don't hesitate to interrupt our business for any reason." Eko ignored her friend's concern until they were standing at the front door. She knocked. "This is the home of Morrison 'Bloodeye' Granitefist and his wife, Lynndis 'The Axe.'" Enric blanched. "T-the what?!" His voice fell to a harsh whisper. "You can't mean--" The door opened too quickly for him to protest any longer. |
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| Bloodeye | Sat Sep 14, 2013 8:12 pm Post #2 |
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Bloodeye was to busy to get the door... he was currently sparring with a good friend, Haggar Hammerfist, a Southern Lord of Balefire, he was known for his cutthroat business practices, enjoyment of fisticuffs, and his annual Strong Man competition. It was Lynndis that opened the door, wearing a white apron over her pink blouse and long blue skirt, her hair which was usually up in rough ponytail, was now rolling down her back, she greeted to two with a smile and quickly took a hand axe from beneath her apron, throwing her handaxe past the two and biting deeply into the steel fence across the street. Lynndis tilted her hand a placed a hand to it as she smiled, "It's so nice to see you Eko, I'm glad you finally decided to come for dinner. Only your one friend can come in though, the rest will be... executed. So please come in." Once she turned her back, the handaxe came flying back to her, sliding into the leather belt hidden by her apron. The house was simple, the room they first walked into was the dining area, a long table with silver plates and silver tableware. Most people would assume it was for looks... but Mrs. Granitefist spoke her mind, "We have silver in plenty of places in the house, just in case I need to kill any encroaching supernatural creatures. I once cleaved a werewolf's head off with my old cleaver, he thought he could get to Morrison by attacking me. That was the last time a werewolf tried to do that." The sounds of grunting and groaning meeting their ears. Lynndis giggled as she lead them towards a door near the back of the room, opening it up to a small boxing arena. Bloodeye and Haggar, a man of considerable height and strength, making him Bloodeye's equal in girth. The two were hammering away at each other with brutal efficiency, Lynndis couldn't help but blush as she spoke, "See there, my rock candy man is so cool and strong." Just as she finished, Bloodeye sent an uppercut into Haggar's guard, bodily lifting him off the ground and out of the ring. Haggar grunted as his back hit the wall, he slowly stood up, his body sporting terrible bruises on his arms and stomach, but his face with it's slicked back red hair and thick red mustache, was unblemished. He laughed as Bloodeye came out of the small arena, "Good one Morrison, that's two hundred wins and two hundred and one losses for me. I'll be back next week for our next spar. I'll go home for now. Evenin' Mrs. Granitefist, Eko Kinslayer." He walked past them as if it was all to common for such criminals to be in the house. Bloodeye kept silent as his friend left and his wife walked up to him, hugging his chest as she gushed about how his rock hard abs and chest felt. He waited for a few seconds and then spoke over his wife, "Welcome Eko and... friend. I am Morrison, The Bloodeye, Granitefist. Just call me Bloodeye. Now I believe my wife has food prepared for us I recall correctly." At the mention of food, Lynndis snapped out of her lovey-dovey feelings, and ran off to the kitchen, apologizing for the delay. Bloodeye looked down at the two and lead them back to the first room, catching Lynndis as she just went out a side door to the kitchen. Bloodeye motioned for the two to sit down as he quickly left the room, coming back with a clean black cut off shirt. He sat down across from them and spoke to Eko, "I hope you won't mind mixing some... business with dinner talk. I may have information on a few Lords that may interest you." Bloodeye grinned as he waited for Eko's reply, he had plenty of information, he would just need to ration it out and get information from Eko, hopefully in return and not during a midnight raid. |
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| Lady Eko | Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:31 pm Post #3 |
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Eko bowed her head respectfully, framing an amusing contrast with Enric's look of pale-faced, trembling, badly concealed horror. "Thank you very much for having me. May I come in?" When The Axe turned around, calling her frightening axe back to its holster beneath her apron, Eko flashed a look to Enric. He realized he was holding her arm painfully tight, like he was prepped to throw her out of harm's way. Sheepishly he let go and tried to get a hold of himself. He doubted Eko hadn't freaked out from the sudden axe throw -- everyone was on edge -- but she was nothing if not teeth-grittingly stoic. As she stepped in, he noticed her wipe the sheen off her brow and thought that proof enough. Just as Eko was getting ready to seat herself, she realized they were heading somewhere else and looked into the door that Lynndis opened. She swallowed, but otherwise met the eyes of Lord Haggar Hammerfist with her typical intensity. A southern Lord, Hammerfist had a reputation for his no-nonsense "politics." The people living in his territory paid very high taxes, but in return those neighborhoods were some of the safest in the Southern Quarter, possibly even the whole city. No one with half a brain wanted to fight him head-on. Lord Hammerfist did her great respect by acknowledging that she, a lowly upstart, even existed. Eko didn't expect such kindness, and struggled to reply coolly as a result -- or reply at all. She remained silent until it was just her, Enric and the Granitefists in the room. Bloodeye was his usual self. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Bloodeye. This is my chief security officer, Enric Roldan." "How do you do?" Enric said, opting to bow deep from the waist instead of shake hands. It had the advantage of being more respectful than a handshake and also not requiring he take Bloodeye's huge, bone-crushing rock hand. They soon took their seats, Eko next to Enric and across from Bloodeye himself. It would facilitate conversation that way. "You do me a great kindness by offering information so plainly. Or agreeing to work with me in general. I'm sure you understand how desperate my situation is getting... I can't even express my gratitude properly." Real emotion strained at the edges of her polite monotone. "I have plenty of information that I'd be glad to tip to SIN. Though I don't see this as much of an exchange, seeing as I benefit in both cases. Truthfully, I have little of real substance to offer. Right now, at least." |
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| Bloodeye | Wed Sep 18, 2013 12:53 am Post #4 |
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Bloodeye nodded as he listened to Eko, she was right, she gained more, but SIN gained quite a bit, perhaps it was time to explain a bit. Just as he was about to speak, the door opened and an axe flew through the air, striking Bloodeye's stone shoulder, bouncing off him, the wall behind him, and back to the holster under his wife's apron. She wagged her finger as she put out bowls of creamy potatoe soup for her guests. The soup had thick slices of potatoes, leek, bacon, and cheddar cheese floated at the top. She sat down and spoke instead of Bloodeye, "I am sure my hubby has already told you our intention, but it is my job to tell you a bit more. See, SIN and the Balefire Guard work together to stop or hinder lords that revel in chaos. SIN and the Balefire Guard work to put tamer, law abiding lords into power. After all, what would you rather have, high taxes but little to no crime, or a chance that your lord will sacrifice you to his vampire or werewolf allies?" The answer was obvious, but Bloodeye spent the time his wife was talking by eating the soup, it was chunky, hearty, pretty good over all, but the spoon Bloodeye had to use was made of steel, the size of a firepoker, and thick enough that it had noticeable imprints from his fingers. Once his wife was done, Bloodeye spoke, "It is safer for the civilians if the guard and if SIN is more informed. Not only do we gain something, but the Guard learns the information and can act on it better than SIN can since we are supposed to be hunting down Supernaturals that pray on the people of Balefire. Of course if the Guard are busy busting weapons shipments, assassination plots, bribing attempts, then you would be able to strike against certain Lords that are trying to kill you. After all, the areas you take over have a rapid drop in death rates and people tend to be happier living under you than say... lord Kelok." With that he went back to eating with his wife, waiting for Eko's response. |
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| Lady Eko | Sun Sep 22, 2013 4:05 am Post #5 |
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A strange feeling stirred inside of Eko. She couldn't describe it exactly. It was kind of like happiness, but mixed with a sense of hope and overwhelming gratitude too. She wanted to go to every faction and power, every person that had helped hold her up all the way to this point and give them each a tight hug. There was no way she could be sitting here, or even alive in general, without all those people helping pull her out of the mire of her situation. And now she had managed to obtain one of the most powerful allies yet. Real backers. Something to make her a true threat. She sipped soup from the spoon and was quick to compliment The Axe's cooking. That thrown ax across the room hadn't even phased her, but she saw out of the corner of her eye that Enric had the shakes. Poor guy. "This is more than I could have ever hoped for. Support from SIN could be vital to our survival. The plan itself is so elegant it just might work. If I can afford thinking about surviving, I may be able to afford thinking about the consequences of... well, succeeding." Those consequences were obvious. Everyone knew what she was going for now. What was less obvious was what she planned to do if she really was successful in obtaining a seat in the House of Lords. "Lawkeeping, especially against supernaturals, is an important issue. You'd be welcome in areas I influence and I'd be willing to lend an ear to any political concerns you may need to voice in the House." She took her second spoonful of soup and really savored it, though she didn't actually show that on her face. "I also have some connections to the werewolf pack wars tearing apart certain neighborhoods in the Southern Quarter. Perhaps these would be of use to you. What was the information about the Lords you mentioned earlier? Anything general I can hear right this second?" |
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| Bloodeye | Sun Sep 29, 2013 11:39 pm Post #6 |
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Bloodeye listened to Eko and nodded, of course once Eko was done with her questions, Bloodeye spoke, "We will not be officially backing you, it will just happen that some of our information will 'fall' into the hands of your men, all by accident, a simple misplacement of papers, a slap on the wrist here and there. As for information... a vampire assassination squad is coming here to attack you as soon as you leave our residence. Of course killing you outside our home will cause rumors and might make us lose our jobs... which is why we set a small ambush for them... one of our foremost vampire killers." Just as he finished, a flash of bright light struck a nearby alley, no screams of pain, then two more from more alleys. Lynndis smirked as she spoke, "Oh, that would be him, he's the 'Light Mage' we recently employed, he's especially good at taking down vampires... since he literally channels sunlight through his spells, now not even vampires are safe from the sun here. As for more useful information, Kelok is going to try and take over two gambling dens at the edge of his territory, they've been fervently opposing him and looking for a new place to escape him. They have a lot of loyal customers and a good bit of coin, I'm sure you have a building or two for them to use. Should be near the northern end of your territory, as for movements... my hubby squeezed some information from a spy reporting to Kelok. We turned him to our side, offering to not cut off his legs and crush his arms behind the office, so far from our false information given to him, Kelok's troops have moved accordingly. He has reinforced his southern side, expecting a possible strike from Lord Haggar, a blow that will never come, while his west and northern sides have been weakened. If you gave this information out I'm sure smaller gangs that were forced to join would wreak some havoc for free." With that Lynndis went back to eating. Blood looked to the window near the front of the house, a vampire rushing it, only to be struck by a column of light. A man wearing grey robes walked by, using a staff as a walking stick, giving a thumbs up as he walked past, mission complete. Bloodeye grinned and finished his soup, standing up to speak, "Perhaps we should split for the moment, I'm sure Lynndis wouldn't mind talking to you Eko, as for your friend here... he should join me in the training room. Perhaps I can teach him a trick or two about dealing with supernaturals or simply hitting where it hurts." Bloodeye waited for her answer as his wife slowly finished her soup. |
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8:18 AM Jul 11

