"Whatever you say, o-mistress of foresight." Valentia mumbled with a roll of her eyes. "What do you want to do, go scurry off to the Companions or whoever the local Brainless Brigade happens to be and let them bash their heads against every plan we run up against? Like it or not, we have to go about this in a manner more subtle than your brand of propositioning a roasted chicken to a fight. But that's neither here nor there."
Hidden:
VirtualWeasel will be joining us and since everyone has posted, I'll be fastforwarding the trip in order to get him in as soon as possible.
_____
The trip took a little under a day thanks to the group's early start, and they reached the city of Riften around 9 PM.
When the group approached the gate upon their horses, Grelok would recognize a man standing outside the gate instead of a city guard; Roran Sialius, a member of the guild suited less for stealth jobs and more for jobs requiring more of a heavy hand or a sturdy constitution. He was likely outside to watch for Grelok's arrival, and to debrief him upon his return.
Roran also saw the Orc atop his steed, as well as his several companions.
Spoiler:
Name: Roran Sialius
Race: Imperial/Cyrodiilic
Sex: Male
Age: 35
Appearance: Battle-hardened with a thousand-mile gaze, Roran boasts a set of crystalline azure eyes, and a scarred sun-worn face. Acceptably attractive in the face, Roran's physical fitness is that of a passionate soldier, and his prowess in athletics has not waned with age. He is quite tall for an Imperial, measuring around 6'2".
Personality: Distance is only conveyed by his nuanced lack of forming meaningful emotional bonds, and coy lack of eye contact. Like a fox, he slides his way in and out of the trust of others without ever feeling mutually, taking without giving, living without loving. Though the intimidating stature and equally brooding quagmire of his personality could be a deterrent, Roran remains cooperative in group combat and lively in group social situations—especially ones with Flin involved.
A short bio: An illustrious career as an Imperial Legion Legate left him torn and weathered by the cruelty of the Empire's military force, leading Roran to quit his service after an unknown campaign in Vvardenfell. He had since turned to contracting across Skyrim and greater Tamriel, attempting to derail the Empire's influence as much as he could. That landed Roran a spot in the Riften Thieves' Guild, though his admittedly poor stealth skills have, so far, not made him quite a master thief. He is quite talented with a sword and bow, however, and is often sent on missions deemed dangerous by the Guild.
Skills: Prefers Heavy Armor, well-trained and near-masterful with a Blade, is decent with Shields, but prefers combat with just a blade, trained in Archery and one of the top in his class at the Legion's basic training, but has since lost some of his fine-tuned archery talent due to lack of practice—but he can still land the shot when it counts. He's also got a silver tongue, though, one might call it a bronze tongue—he can talk the talk, but every now and then his brooding gall can land him in some deep [&@%!] (that one's Speech, I couldn't fit it in the sentence. Sue me.)
Equipment: A gladius-like sword gifted to him years ago upon his promotion to Legate, that he named Draconarius. He typically wears steel plate armor, with a set of steel-plated boots lined with fur he claims is of a tree-cat from Valenwood. When travelling, he wears a bearskin hooded fur cloak (not like a full body robe, just a fur covering the shoulders and torso, hanging down to about the thighs) and a loosely constructed fur rucksack, holding various small baubles, food, water, and other curious.
"That you, there, Roran?" Grelok raised his left hand in greeting, decidedly keeping his dwemer hand under his cloak for now. He wasn't eager to have pain shoot up his arm again. "They're with me. Couple of 'em want to do business. Couple of 'em going to the inn. And one of 'em is going to be a new recruit." He grinned, and looked towards Valentia. Grelok didn't expect a warm welcome from his fellow thief, but he was at least going to be relatively up front about things. "Got a hell of a report to give, too. Stendarr, kill me now. Eheh..."
"Seeking fortune and finishing this contract. Fleeing would not suit either aim, you see." Talks-Too-Much replied to Sees-In-Shade in Jel, "Also, Ruuz is here to stay, so I am here to stay. No questions, no qualms, no questions or qualms at all."
"I have heard stories of the caves of beasts such as these, stories I intend to tell my granddaughter. It would be wise for you to stay together, for their halls are treacherous and slick with the blood of their prey." the older man told Darkscale,and then turned to Theodastyr, "I, for one, will be heading home to warm my bones, Your Respectablesness. I won't be needing the promised sum. It would not feel right to take coins stained with so much blood."
Rosa drank the strange concoction from Nammu's palm, recoiling slightly as the ebony claw brushed against her face. She shivered slightly and the potion took a few moments before it started to act, the flesh slowly healing with each passing minute. The pain from the first potion still stung, but the tarry liquid had dulled it somewhat. It would likely ache for a while. Those present could see that if the blade had struck just a little more to the side, she would have lost her eye.
Theodastyr's bodyguards became more enthusiastic as the Baronet delivered a strong oration, looking at the young noble with more respect and attention. One of them, a woman by the name of Aveline Garsnipe, bowed and said, "Flacus would have done the same and more for any of us. We can do this for him, sir... and you."
"That... actually makes sense." Rosa looked somewhat half-abashed, half-thoughtful, "Most of you seem to have your minds made up, and I won't brave a strange passage on my own, especially not in these conditions. I think yours is a foolhardy endeavor, but I made a contract with Sir Rian, one that was made in your name, Baronet. You'll have my bow, though I expect that to be of little use..." She wrenched a jagged shortsword from the cold hand of a dead Falmer. "Much better."
"Then what are we waiting for!" cried Maddox Benoit impulsively, a minor noble and one of Theodastyr's bodyguards, "Let's go get him!"
"Now just hold on, you brash [&@%!]." swore the older man, "Let the rest your company, and our guests, rest for a moment and make their decisions."
All eyes turned to those who had not yet voiced their opinions: Kelessa, Khazi-daro, Nammu, Sees-In-Shade, and Sinyail.
Roran's attention snapped to the Orc on the high steed, a wooden pipe puffing from his mouth in the thick Rift air. He grinned a jolly grin, and approached Grelok as he spoke. "Well I'll be damned." A wooden pipe garbled his voice, and glowed faintly in the damp Rift air. "I never thought I'd see your sorry ass around here again." Under the guise of casual courtesy, he glanced slyly at the rest of the group as he walked toward them, stopping at Grelok's horse, puffing out a dense cloud of smoke that enveloped his fur-cloaked head. After the smoke settled, his weathered eyes were still scanning the group, and moving his head with a casual roll to meet Grelok's eyes. Noticing the unusual offering of a left hand, the Imperial smiled like he knew a dark secret. Reaching out his left hand, he offered to help the Orc off his steed. "Well I guess we've got a whole lot to discuss, huh?"
Grelok
"Heh, Velvet and I sure do." Grelok declined the helping hand, though when he descended from his horse, the shifting of his cloak briefly revealed dwemer metal-coloured digits--be they a gauntlet, or something more, the flash was momentary. "Suffice it to say, for now, that my job became a lot more, uh...complicated. Could've used a couple more door-kickers like you, with me! Got it done, though."
Valentia descended from her horse carefully and walked up besides Grelok. "Complicated? Bit of an understatement, don't you think?" she mused, next looking over to Roran. "Hi, I'm the new recruit. Valentia, nice to meet you. You're... a 'bruiser', I suppose? Moreso than Grelok, anyway?"
Passively he wiped his hands clean, his deed was done. He looked up to the rest, shallow eyes in toil. The Baronets show of determination, nor his associates' response brought no level of warmth to his heart. Their needless bickering tired his soul, still, progress needs to be made.
"Delay, and they are doomed.. Rush forth, then we are doomed.. but these are matters a priest should know not." He had an odd way of stating this simple truth, but since when has his honesty faltered
Rather, the one thing that did make his ears twitch were from the least of sources, words spoken in Jel. Like a shadow stalking it's host, the priest weaved through the group till he neared the two argonians. Placing both hands behind his back, bracing it as he leaned forward, his cold words would be most unexpected
"And what.. does one have here? Thinking of forsaking these depths? Yes?" There was something about the vigil glare he held on SIS, it was different. Where as before his sight held nothing, looking past their very mortal selves, but now? It was as if he was peering into his very soul.
"I Seek Truth, Not For Power, But For Understanding"
"Done means done, no matter how it's done..." Roran's voice trailed off into a chuckle, his hand retracting, as he turned to Valentia. "No, I'm a door-kicker. Bruisers are born in the next village over." He let out a half-courteous bow to the girl, sloppy and unrefined after years of shelter from noble eyes. "Let's show your friends here around our town. Get them situated, have a drink or two along the way. After all, we've got some folks waiting for us in a certain 'tavern'." He glanced up at the Riften guard tower, the glow from inside its wood-and-stone frame sending shivers down the legate's spine.
The Argonian had mostly remained silent on the group's trip to the city. When the group had arrived, Zudeel had found a place to mount Ebony and dismounted. He noticed that Grelok went up to an Imperial that seemed to be an old friend of the Orc. He walked to the group and said with neutrality,"Sorry to interject on your conversation, but what is your friend's name here? And what is our exact gameplan here?".
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Kelessa and The Cave
Kelessa sighed softly, pulling her hair and winding it tight, weaving a bun on her head as she did so. "Ah Rosa, when have you ever steered me wrong?" She asked, not saying anything about that time in Shor's Stone, such matters were best left. "A lot really, but it all seemed to have worked out for the best." She added grinning to herself. "However there is only so many wrongs a lady can go through."
She turned at the baronet. "Your men must suffer for the idiotic mistakes afforded by themselves, that is my stance, I might be bound to the same contract as Rosa, however I simply refuse to venture into their stronghold, where they have the advantage with bungling... apes at my back, side and front." She then spat at ground near her feet. "Dibella's tits, I don't think you even know how to hold a position. I detest little boys trying to be men, you talk a good weird twisty talk but that's about it." A shrug before smirking. "Or maybe with all your talk about queer and buggery you want one of those falmer to do those to you.." She murmured under her breath.
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"This vessel of assistance is baffled by the old one's rejection of coin. Many will and have killed for what this one can assume to be a large amount of coin." Darkscale commented.
"Boys who pretend to be men are often first to die in mortal combat. They use impractical weapons out of a sense of what this vessel thinks is some kind of art sense and are often the biggest target. If a man is to assist the gathering of small survivors through the Falmer caves, a man will not tolerate any sense of bravery that gives away his position and will not hesitate to leave that fool to die." Darkscale commented with a rather cold tone to his voice as if the mere notion of leaving someone to be torn apart was just as easy as leaving an apple on a desk. "The one that suggested to storm the cave would be the first to suffer the fate of being torn apart by the beasts within. It is advisable that the boy playing at being a man is left here or risk the stealth approach being destroyed by that one."
RANDOM SILLY STATEMENT AS SIGNATURE! Praise Sheogorath!
Eolwyn looked at Roran as he approached, then dismounted her horse.
She gave her animal companion a couple of pats on the back, as she listened to Grelok's friend.
It sounded like they weren't going to get down to business straight away, thus her gaze fell to the stables. I wonder if the stablemaster is about.
Nora was slumped in her stead, embraceful of their journey's end. Maybe she was tired from her less than accustomed travel on horseback, or maybe their endless pending on resumed questions, or it quite honestly it could be her less than splendid anticipation for dealing with the Guild. Either way, she had the most dull expression on her face beneath that hood
As she looked forth upon the gates of Riften, and the idle strangers, she couldn't help but stretch out a bit. "Aye, heard somethin' bout a 'tarven', that's somethin' I'm glad to hear. Feelin a tad too stiff here, if ye catch my meaning." Her statement was more to self than other, just prior to dismounting her steed, followed by another stretch session. Her hood fell as she did so, revealing her hair as it garnished her clad armor
"I Seek Truth, Not For Power, But For Understanding"
Katlina was a bit tired when they reached Riften around 9 in the evening. "Nora, wanna grab a drink and a bite to eat? We should catch up and well, someone has to make sure that your tales of valour are listened to." She asked her friend as Grelok spoke to the man. She was trying her best not to think of the possiblity of being roped into breaking the law and still, no-one had given her a straight answer. This bugged her a lot as she disliked the possiblity of handling so called 'magical' artifacts. If they were of a Daedric origin, she could at least, take some precautions but no, no-one wanted to tell her what they were doing.
"If we're staying for a few days, I'm gonna to grab some books and do some research on these things." She had a plan to find out.
RANDOM SILLY STATEMENT AS SIGNATURE! Praise Sheogorath!
Eolwyn could see that the stable was manned by a sleeping young nord, his short height and his hairless face indicating he had hardly seen 16 winters. He was slumped over in a chair, propped up slightly against the stable walls.
Above the adventurers rang out the sound of a lever cranking. Whoever was in the guard tower had been watching; Roran knew them to be a Guild mole as well. The gate slowly opened up, to reveal the beginning of Riften proper.
From what they could see, Riften was a vastly different city than Windhelm, being built of wood instead of stone. Many buildings and structures hung small lanterns about, lighting the city aglow in soft orange light that struck a lovely contrast with the dark blue night sky.
"Nah, someone needs to keep the short one in line.." she casually announced, twisting her back from side to side as she spoke "Maybe later by dusk, we'll have plenty then, you n' me, I promise." She flashed a smile and a charismatic thumbs up to her friend
She comforted her stead as they now stayed idle; Rainfall, or Vahstrun as her uncle would say, was a magnificent horse and a lucky companion to be had.
"Aye, any clue where to station my fellow, like a stables?" She said with some level of confidence as the gates opened, obliviously with her back facing towards the stables themselves
"I Seek Truth, Not For Power, But For Understanding"
"I could make a crude joke about short ones and you, Nora." Kat remarked. "But we'll shall do the whole two nords arguing over who has a bigger axe and who killed the biggest mammoth thing before breaking out into a tavern brawl." She remarked to her friend with a thumbs up back at her.
RANDOM SILLY STATEMENT AS SIGNATURE! Praise Sheogorath!
"Good evening, young man." Eolwyn greeted the stable boy as he ushered their horses.
"Could you tell me, we're you working here yesterday? I'm looking to find out some information about a carriage that journeyed here yesterday from Windhelm." She smiled at the lad and lowered her hood, prepared to offer him a coin if need be.
Roran gazed into the city, the orange lanterns dancing like fireflies in the blue-black abyss of night, as the wind coiled and swooped around their glassy frames. He recalled an old memory, more of a sound really, causing a glint of boyish reflection to overcome his eyes.
Something was in the air, but he wasn't quite sure what.
Breaking his stare, he looked to the rest of the group, their chatter passing in and out of his mind. Seeing Grelok, and the opportunity for some idle conversation, Roran spoke. "I suppose I should ask," he hesitated, "I don't need to know the full story, but I figure it'll save both our asses from the stake if we get our stories straight now—what happened out there, or, rather, what's the 'correct version' of what happened out there?"
Last edited by VirtualWeasel on Tue Mar 29, 2016 6:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
The young man shook his head at Eolwyn's question. "I'm sorry, ma'am, my ma was working the stable the last fortnight. I only just got back from Whiterun with my da and it's my first night pitching in. You can come by in the morning and ask to see the ledger, though."
Niralie patted Snowberry as the stableboy led the horse away, and then turned toward the city. She peered curiously inside. She'd read about the city in books - particularly ones that mentioned the Thieves Guild - and was curious what it looked like in person.
Khazi-daro - Cave
Khazi was surprised that her opinion was being asked. She crossed her arms and gave it. "This one thinks it would be foolish to enter either tunnel. This is their lair: they have the advantage, and might even have set an ambush."
She hoped that this might be her opportunity to be able to get out of the whole thing: if they gave up on the mission, or let anyone not interested leave, then perhaps she would be able to go free. But then common sense quickly stifled that hope: if the entire expedition gave up they'd probably see to it that she'd be thrown in jail upon their return, and even if the dissenters left, she did not trust any of the others enough to travel with them (or in some cases, did not believe they'd be able to keep themselves alive in the wilderness, much less herself as well.)
Khazi let out a reluctant sigh and added with a grumble: "But Khazi does whatever the group decides."
"I shall return in the morning then." Eolwyn grinned at the boy and routed in her satchel.
"Thank you. Your ma and da are lucky to have such a helpful son."
She held out a low value coin for him to take. With the accumulation of the bounty and reward money, Eolwyn certainly didn't have shallow pockets, and she intended to share some of it with those whom she thought deserving.
Grelok
"I was sent to stop a bunch of pirates," Grelok explained to Roran, "or get them to give us a cut. ...Nutcases were going to siege the city, looking for magical trinkets. I, uh. My friends and I stopped 'em. ...More to it than that, but I'll make a show of it later. Tell the whole thing. Heh. But that's the long and short of it."
Theodastyr shook his head at these replies. While his men seemed to be almost certainly behind him, the others still needed persuading. And so, he leapt upon a large rock that was there, almost slipping as it was slickened with blood. When he regained his balance, he stood up start and began to exhort.
"If you had listened, you would have heard me explain fully and clearly my reasons for suggesting we take the fight into the stronghold. Firstly, because it is the righteous thing to do. Not out of any sense of bravery, though being brave is certainly involved in our struggle, but out of a sense of justice and comradeship, and the obligation I have to my men. It is not in the search of glory that we do this, but in the necessity of the righting of the wrongs inflicted against us, which I must do, and by extension you all must do, in order to fulfil my obligations to you, and from you to me. If we let this transgression go unpunished, the Falmer shall be emboldened, and they shall strike at us again, and again, taking one or two of our number each time, until we are crushed to bone, and our bones crushed to dust, and our dust crushed to nothingness. Think then, if we are to leave these two captured men to their fate, what does that spell for you?" he asked, pausing to look around at everyone, searching in their souls.
"That would mean you are worthless, not worth the attempt of rescue. If you do not wish to rescue these men for the sake of justice or utilitarianism, then, for the sake of your own self I would suggest we attempt rescue! If we do not save these men now, we shall not make any more effort to rescue you if you are captured, for the precedence for abandonment has already been set. I made an obligation to my men, to each and every one of you, that I would look out for you and would pay you a good rate, as you made an obligation to me, to follow my lead. That is how any society is built, upon a series of obligations, linking the lowest of men to the greatest by a bond of legality and security! If we do not honour our obligations, society, at every level, rends itself in two, in four, in six, in eight! Soon, we would be left broken, fighting amongst each other. We would be like that already, I would imagine, were it not for our obligations."
He then continued, enumerating a second reason for why they should take the fight to the Falmer. "As mentioned previously, we know for sure that the Falmer came through that cave. And we know for sure that there is another passage. And we know for sure that the Falmer have accessed that other passage in the past, to get to the trove of treasure that is to be found there. The Falmer, I have heard, loathe the fresh air, in night and day, though more acutely in the day, and are not likely to venture out of their caves, unless to assault people, as they have assaulted us. If we keep all of these facts and assumptions in mind, it is only logical to say that the Falmer must have some other way of accessing that cave, the very passage some of you have suggested would be safer to take. If this is true, taking either passage will be wrought with danger, and so it is irrelevant, for matters of security, which cave we go through. However, for the purpose of justice and fulfilling our obligations to each other and between you, the only correct path to take is the one the Falmer came from!"
And with that, he sat down and sighed deeply, quite tired by the exhortation, awaiting the response of the crowd.
"The noble one is full of foolish ideas. It is unwise to storm the darkness with so few beings that are capable of holding their own and numbers are nothing to the darkness. The Darkness cares little for numbers or brute forc and this man was molded by the darkness. This vessel was adopted by it and in turn, knows how to stay away. It would be easy for this one to merge with it if the fire went out and the Falmer beings are servants of the dark. They may lack their eyes but their hearing and knowledge of the cave is something that they have." Darkscale told the noble man that seemed to lead the rabble of other nobles. "The darkness will claim the two beings and it would be practical to give them up. This vessel would use them to lure more victims to the nest if it were part of the falmer and being vessels that sneak is a practical idea." He commented as if he was remarking on the weather.
Hidden:
I know it may come off as forced but it just feels natural for Darkscale to say that.
RANDOM SILLY STATEMENT AS SIGNATURE! Praise Sheogorath!
