Chapter 2: The Pit

Nigel wrote:

Sorry about that I was holding a meeting for my people. we were discussing tomorrows tournament. So what can I help you with? Are you here to post a job. I apologize for the inconvenience just talk with a clerk, and they will hep you get the job posted." Nigel told her. he was a bit restless, he needed to get out and find another fighter for the tourney. He looked at the girl and wondered out loud. "Unless of course you are here for a different reason?"

Sakuya tilted her head in confusion and scratched her head, she was quite unsure just what kind of place she walked into. She knew it was a guild though so she assumed the guy thought she would be a client of the guild's services. "No no I am not here to hire your guild for any task, not at the moment anyway." She points to the Katana's sheath that is mounted onto her robes. "It have been looking for a place to train, I don't like to let my skills go dull, I never go a day without at least some sort of practice, it is one of my father's 4 core principles, but because of my ship ride and preparations I wasn't able to practice much in my sword style."

Drakestone Street: Alleyway


The old soldier accepted his willingness to go along with them for questioning.  This eliminated the cause for an incident which would be unwise on his part.  Upon surrendering to the old soldier he was ordered to lower his blade..

Quote :

"Firstly, you should put that thing away if you really don't want trouble... As for the sword, i know it's a bad idea for handle magic blades. Now, follow that gentleman behind you."

As he followed the old man and his group for questioning, Svendas followed suit with no resistance whatsoever.  The guard escort seemed to keep an watchful eye on his every move. The Soldier brought forth question that made him ponder..

Quote :

"Now that i think of it, i heard of a man that also caried a magic sword... Something happened even before i was a whelp in this city, but it couldn't be you, could it? Maybe you know of it? You seem too young to be the man."

Svendas pondered for a moment to remember what the man was talking about.  Finally responding to his question...

"That is indeed a good question good sir and I know of the tale of what you speak of indeed." "The man who has out lived even the oldest Alferian, the somehow immortal half alferian man, the witness who saw the darkest days of this world" 


Svendas clutched his arm that had the guild symbol.  "There's a saying that tells never judge an individual by their looks, judge them by their sense of character."  "But you ask me am I this individual of song and tales?" 

Svendas gave a brief chuckle "Even the greatest stories are told differently by various people so who knows what this man actually looks like" 


But just as svendas gave his response, he noticed that another matter caught the attention of the guards.  It was a seemingly drunkard cat that was staggering around and saying nonsense that Svendas couldn't make out of at all.  Then all the sudden, a cloud a dirt surrounded the air and this cat creature made his escape with great haste.  This caught Svendas and his escort off guard and the soldiered quickly ordered his men to give chase.  

Svendas came back to his senses again and regained his footing.  As he brushed himself off, he could've sworn that he saw a figure out of the corner of his eyes walking away but as he turned to look.  This figure was already gone from his sight.

to himself, "I wonder...who that was?"  

That question was on Svendas's mind but for now, he has more important things to do.  He then proceeded to help the old soldier's men regain their composure....

((OOC: ok, chapter will be having a mall timeskip, so i'l just close shop after this post unless there i something you wish to adress. Also, fug writer's block.))
PC post
"Cheeky little brat." Danny thought as the wolfqin tried to put on cute airs... Well, she suceeded, but that wouldn't affect him too much. Before he could give any reply to the little intruder, however, Sir Nigel stepped foward to take care of the issue. Danny was preparing to leave and get a little something that would be usefull for the next day, but his line of hought was interrupted by the doors flinging open and one of the most flamboyant sights that eve passed his eyes came through it. The masked man along with the effeminate... Man? Looking closer it could be confirmed as so. Clothes so tacky they could be used at a carnival, but the way he walked wasn't that of a buffon... His hips were kept firm yet his feet light. Not a person Danny would want to fight, most likely. "Wait a friggin' minute, that's the queen of spades?" thought the rather surprized brawler. After returning to his senses, Danny paid attention to the exange between the two officers of the guild... And the offer that was made. After being rounded up by Decimus, a choice was presented to him... Either train by himself or go under his "special training". After pondering for a moment, Danny spoke up. "Yhea, i'l take you up on that offer. But i need ya to find someone to buy me a decent weapon then, this piece of junk has gotten so much use it might break in the middle of the match. I have the gil here, of course."

---

Mod post



The old lieutnant was helped up by the man they were leading... The fact that he didn't try anything gave some relief to the officer... But he wouldn't let his guard down just yet. "I am ashamed about this unsightly little situation... But if we could continue..." He said, continuing his way towards one of the towers situated at the city wall. Once inside, he led Svendas through a small staircase just 8 steps down before entering a room that was empty of anything other than a table and four chairs and a window blocked with bars, about ground level. Sand came into the room every now and then due the sea breeze, leaving a small dune in the outermost corner of the room. He told Svendas to leave his weapons near the door and for him to take one of the seats that had their back to the entrance. The reamining guard that was with them took position standing beside the doorway. Sitting opposite to the visitor, the lieutnant started. "I am forced to cut this short, as it's hard to tell when i shall be needed with so many visitors in the city. Namely, what is your name, what was a human warrior doing in a nyanqin ship coming from M'hirr, What are your objectives in town, What is your city of origin... And why do you bring a powerfull artifact such as that sword into our city?" Time was of the essence, but he would need those answers... He planned on being far more through, but as the man did not try to escape before the chances of him being a problem became much lower in the old soldier's mind... Not to say he would just let the man go after the questioning. He planned on having some of the roof runners keep an eye on him to confirm his story... And stop him, if nessesary. At least for the next few hours.

Meera's Establishment

---

Meera's men finally finished cleaning up the training grounds. The cell doors were opened and the slaves were let out. A wooden table stands in the corner of the training circle, on it was a cache of weapons and armor.

J'asha, along with Meera's guards, stood vigil over the training circle and the slaves. They will not hesitate to shoot arrows at the slaves should they try to escape. "Final training session! Get your lazy butts out here and show me what you've got." said J'asha.

Four Nyanqin waited in the center of the circle for the slaves to get armed. This will be their last training session before fighting in the Pits.

You may use your approved weapons and armor for this fight. You will gain new weapons and armor when the Fighting Pits starts.

The meeting had taken a turn for the bizarre when the purported Queen of Spades appeared. Now, he had been expecting a rough-and-tough female warrior, not some effeminate guy dressed in overly-feminine armor. Thomas couldn't say he was exactly surprised about it, what with the young lady showing up. Still, it wasn't his place to judge (out loud at least), so he would hold his tongue on the subject. He was also creeped out by the words the Queen used with Nigel. 

When the boy was being ushered away by the man named Decimus for training, Thomas had nodded his head in approval. After all, he hadn't lasted 2 rounds with the weak Spades that they had faced together, serving as little more than a meat shield (and even failed to do that properly). When the offer was extended to him and the staff-fighter, he waited a touch longer, wanting to hear what the other man would say. And while he was pleased that he took up the offer, Thomas wasn't particularly in the mood for it, especially not right before the fighting in the Pits actually start. 

He stepped away from the walls, bring himself closer to the group, "For all that the offer was given with good intentions, I cannot in my right mind take it, as I would rather be well-rested for the upcoming fights. To go into such a situation tired and with sore muscles is a sure-fire way to get oneself killed, and that is not something I can allow. I did you a good day." With that, the armored knight brought his right fist to his chest in what was apparently a salute, before doing an about-face and leaving the hall, intent on doing some light stretches before retiring for the day.

Nigel looked Sakuya up and down sizing her up.  She did not look very strong.  But he was already taking a lot of chances with this team so he nodded and said.  "I think we can accommodate that.  The group over there is about to begin a grueling session.  We have a tournament we are training for, and our master of arms Decimus will be more then willing to help you achieve your greatest potential."  Nigel said with a smile.  grabbing her shoulder he gently led her over towards Decimus.  "If you impress him, I can even offer you a spot on the tournament roster for tomorrow.  If that is something you are interested in joining."  He added wondering if this team would be pure gold, or fools gold.  he knew he was taking a risk on them, but he wanted to prove his point.

Decimus nodded to Thomas "Aye Lad get your rest, I wil send someone to wake ye when it is time for dinner.  And  word of wisdom,  No matter how well a sword is forged, it is still useless if not properly cleaned and sharpened.  Don't become so overconfident of your skills you slack in your training."  Decimus said.  He was not very worried about Thomas, he seemed to be a fine knight.  But Decimus had seen his fair share of fine knights, trained many himself,  Because of that he knew the dangers.  He had seen it before a warrior reaches a plateau of skill where they can best those around them, and in their overconfidence they begin slacking in training.   It was a quick, slippery, and dangerous slope.

As he thought on this watching the knight head to his room, he saw Nigel leading the wolf girl his way...."Oh dear It seems the Lad has found himself another stray, and once again it is up to me to house train them."  Decimus called out with a laugh.

  It really was not a bother to him he loved training young recruits molding them into shape.  but lately it seems Nigel has offered the Clubs facilities to everyone,  for every gem like Danny and Ace,  he got clods like them pages that they recruited last week.  Not that he had given up.  Even a clod of dirt with time and patience could become a brick that weathers the ages.  "Well little Bad Wolf, I am Decimus and it looks like you will be taking the knight's place in today's training.  So tell me are you a jewel, or a piece of colored glass?"  he asked eyeing the girl up.  

Nigel seeing that Decimus had guessed his intent without being told thanked the older man and was on his way to prepare for the preliminaries, when a page brought him a note.  it was in Dorians hand writing, he found it odd that he would write so quickly after his grand entrance...But Dorian was Dorian he did as he pleased, even taking a female title rather then the male one.  

Man had the old man blustered on about how Queen was not an appropriate title for the son of the guildmaster.  Nigel laughed at the thought of it, he missed those times.  Looking over the paper he crushed it with his hands.  All the note said was "Deary change of plans we will hit this tourney full force.  I am hearing rumors of nasty things already happening,  and it is better to have four groups that can take up another's slack rather then place all our hopes in one team...Sorry Deary,  and I was looking forward to seeing our kids play.  Also be on guard it seems many of the stables are not holding back his year."  Nigel felt the rumpled paper in his hand, as he thought angrily about how much he hated that these pits brought out the worst in people.  But at least his original goal might still be met.  And it would be even more telling if Dorians slaves were defeated in full view of everyone.  

Before he could consider this change, and the benifits it might have.   Another page ran up to him...."man we have a  lot of Pages these days"  Nigel thought with a laugh.  He had taken in probably every urchin and orphan in the city....but he believed that it was the best thing to do for them.  He was pulled away from his moral thoughts when he heard the child speak.

"Sir the Queen of hearts wishes to speak with you in regards to tomorrows plans."  The child told him.  Nigel smiled and handed the child a Gil for his troubles.

"Good job and thank you.  I have one more job for you.  Find the Ace of clubs and let her know that Dorian wants the Security doubled tonight.  Lets not have any more people wandering in randomly off the streets."  Nigel said as he headed off to look for the Queen Of hearts.

(OOC Sorry about the change in my plan. We don't have time for both so we will focus on the training session then move into the tournament)

Freelancer's Guild

Sakuya listened as Nigel spoke, nodding as he did to show she was listening and waiting for him to finish speaking before responding, "Well I do like the training idea, not so sure on the tourney though, I have no clue what that is all about after all , well except everyone seems worked up about it" She said with her cute act still going, sticking out her tongue briefly at the last bit.

Once she was led to Decimus she was immediately offended by his "stray" and "house training" comments and puffed out her cheeks in a rather bratty fashion to show she disliked being joked about like some dog. She didn't however interrupt not wanting to lose a chance at training.

Decimus wrote:

"Well little Bad Wolf, I am Decimus and it looks like you will be taking the knight's place in today's training. So tell me are you a jewel, or a piece of colored glass?"

"Well both are beautiful, so I shall take that as a compliment" she said with a snicker "I like to think though that I am not as fragile as glass, but I know I am not as tough as I could be, but that is what training is for." she said matter of factually, but in a cheerful manner. "So how should we begin?"

Drakestone City Wall Tower (post timeskip)




After the incident was beginning to resolve itself, Svendas continued to follow the Lieutenants's lead and was escorted to one of the City Wall's towers.  He was lead inside and down a spiral passageway that lead to a small empty room except with a table and a few chairs.

As per ordered, Svendas placed his both his blades next to the door and hopes that no one touches the one that's fully wrapped in cloth.  Sitting at his assigned seat, he awaits the many questions the soldiers might have in store for him...

Seeing as how the old soldier was in a hurry and saw that and hoped this wouldn't take long.  The soldier finally spoke to Svendas...

Quote :

"I am forced to cut this short, as it's hard to tell when i shall be needed with so many visitors in the city. Namely, what is your name, what was a human warrior doing in a nyanqin ship coming from M'hirr, What are your objectives in town, What is your city of origin... And why do you bring a powerfull artifact such as that sword into our city?"

There were a lot of questions presented to him, questions that were understandable yet many that he cannot say for reasons that wasn't yet time to reveal.  For starters he'll try to get to the point as best as he could..

"As much as I like to reveal who I am, I believe it is unwise of me to do so as I can already assume yet guess I would be an unwelcome individual to some of this city's...unsavory characters."  "Therefore I believe it would be in both of our interests that my name remains unknown...at least for now" "The same could be said for the city I based at currently"

Svendas proceeded to explain his involvement with the Nyanqin ship..

"Now as for me being on a Nyanqin ship, I was left without any means of charting a ship getting here as I was swindled by purchasing a set of fake artifacts from an Elder Nyanqin" "And for me, the news of any artifacts whether myth or truth aren't something to be taken lightly."  "I followed the assumption that this was a small ring of sorts of fake artifact dealings and my keen observations of the make of said artifacts pointed me to this City and for the time being, I have come here to seek it out and put an end to it" 


"Now then....you asked about that blade"

Svendas turned his head and stared at the cloth wrapped blade for a moment...

"I'm afraid I am forbidden to say any information regarding it's origins nor explain why it's wrapped in cloth"  "But what I can say is that this bulk of steel is bound to me alone and you can place your bets I'd fight anyone who dares to try and take it away from me" "If it's stolen from me...."

Svendas shakes his head from his last comment about the wrapped sword.  "Excuse me, I have dwell far too deep on the matter" "But regardless, where I go, it goes with me as well and I can assure you it means no ill intentions to the city and her inhabitants" 

(Sorry im late, i had to go to a convention. But now i'm back and ready!

Coincidentally, where is Ace currently? I seem to have lost track of him XD)

For Svendas
The lieutnant sighed at the answers... not having his name and place of origin was quite a bind, and the fact he admited to smugling himself into town only made it worse. But this was a busy time and he couldn't aford to make new trouble for now. He'd remember the man's face and confront him after the pit fights were over... If his word not to cause trouble was true that is. "Very well... You make this dificult for me, but i'l trust you for now. Due the fact you won't give us a name, you will have to give the name of the inn you'll stay at to one of the guards to report to -Sir Dorne-, that being me. If i don't have that information by dawn, you WILL be chased, is that clear? You can go now." Said the old lieutnant, signaling for his soldier to open the door behind  Svendas and to acompany him to the outside. Dorne himself had some buissiness to take care of in the tower now. Once outside, the armored guard returrned to the tower. The line of Nyanqin entering town had lowered conciderably, now only a handfull entering at a time.

---

((OOC: Special ocasion NPCs above level cap.))
For Agnes


The hours were passing as the sun went down, coloring the swap in the distance into a bright golden color, the puddles and ponds on the way to it as if they were molten gold or silver. Clouds of rain were visible far in the distance, wether they would reach town, however, was hard to say. Away from the pink haired woman's view, however, two beings were making their way to town from a boat that came from Northrend, to arive after dark. On the distance, bells sounded, signaling that the city gates were soon to close and those not in the camps were to return or be locked outside until dawn. There about an hour before it came to pass. Already did bonfires start to sprout between the tents of the visitors outside as the city abandoned it's sandy color to a darker shade.

Decimus smiled at the wolf girl's answer.  It was not often that he got a good answer he generally got dead eyed stares.  "Follow me" he said leading Sakuya, Ace, and Danny into the training room.  For your training you will be facing three of our members they just returned from a mission and need to unwind.  Here is what you will be doing.  I want you to spar these three until you can fight no more.  The best training I have found is practical combat experience..  So they will not hold back and Hopefully neither will you."  Decimus told them as three Clubs stared at them from the other side of the training area.

Drakestone:City Wall Tower (outside)


After answering the man's questions, he caught the sense that it was not really satisfactory for him in terms of his true nature.  Regardless the need to retain a sense of secrecy was needed for him to move about through the city.  As the Older man was in a rush to get back to his duty he let svendas leave but said to him..

Quote :

"Very well... You make this dificult for me, but i'l trust you for now. Due the fact you won't give us a name, you will have to give the name of the inn you'll stay at to one of the guards to report to -Sir Dorne-, that being me. If i don't have that information by dawn, you WILL be chased, is that clear? You can go now."

Svendas agreed to the terms and grabbed his gear and left the tower.

For now, there was little that could hamper him for the moment, however this "Pit" that he keeps hearing about was troubling from his perspectives.  At for a moments notice, as he exited the wall tower, he felt a breeze from the wind and now had 2 goals in mind.  First was to track down this Fake artifact ring and second was to secure a spectator spot for this "Pit".  He's heard the stories of the pit fights before but it'll be another thing to witness it for himself and as usual, he would once again not be a welcome sight...

Drakestone City

---

A maya(birds used by the empire to relay messages) awaited Thomas in his room. The message had the Seal of Wyverngard's Knight Commander, unbroken. Every Knight Commander in the seven holds of Wrozan received a letter from the Emperor and now they are relaying the Emperor's orders to their knights. The message for Thomas wrote:

"Sir Thomas Alexander... (The rest of the message can be found in your PM vangran)"

Drakestone: Shuffle Alliance Barracks: Thomas' Room

After leaving the training hall, Thomas made his way to the room Nigel had assigned to him the week prior. Upon entering, his eyes fell upon a maya that had a letter with it. Seeing the seal, he took a breath before breaking it. His eyes took in the contents, engraving them into his brain before he took the message and held it over the candle sitting on the small table in the corner, watching as it burned so that none could learn of his latest mission.

"Very well," the blond knight said softly in the silence of the room, "I will take my time with this. Rushing would only get me killed." He narrowed his eyes in thought. He had seen a girl before that matched the description the message gave, and while he was unsure of her true strength, if the Emperor wanted her, then doubtless there was more than meets the eye. That she was seen fleeing the Academy only makes him curious, although he will not let that stop him from bringing her in. However, if he made a move now, doubtless others would interfere, so he would have to hold off on that for now.

Although... yes, that could work. He would see her true nature himself soon enough.

MOD POST

The streets were starting to open up as the people entered their homes or visited the buissinesses of the night. In another hour, the last pit fight would end, sending another wave of people into Drakestone city. Torches all around the rooftop kept the main roads slightly lit. The alleways, however were a different matter completely. Peddlers, drunkards, the homeless, muggers and the sorts would still linger in the city's pathways. A lone ship made it to the city's inernal docks and down went two passengers that went straight to an inn downtown. As Agner, the pink haired woman entered the city, so did the misterious Half-breed leave the wall towers. The sea breeze was still slightly warm, but the atmosphere protected by the buildings prooved itself to be under cold's embrace. Every now and then, the sound of fighting in the distance could be heard, be it the freelances or the city guard or maybe just the local criminals finding targets that visited the town for the tourneaments.

FOR SVENDAS
Some time after leaving the tower, upon reaching one of the main streets, a voice spoke behind him. "It seems keeping this under wraps was not the best idea. But i didn't expect my lieutnant to be so soft on a stranger such as you. Was it some of that Alfen magic?" Behind Svendas stood a man even older than the lieutnant. Unlike the soldier that first took him for quesioning, thi man did not wear heavy armor, but heavy robes and a helmet. It was the captain of the guard and one of the most famous mages of western Wrozan: Ahriman Strauss. Snapping his fingers, from the roof stood up 4 soldiers wielding crossbows, all aimed at the man that the captain was confronting. "Only one sword i know matches the description given to me by the roof runners, and even if you are not the man known as Svendas, the fact you posses that blade is a problem all within itself. You WILL be detained, no matter what. Now it's your choice to give up your weapons or be killed on-spot." To accentuate his point, Ahriman started to gather energy over one of his palms, ready to attack this man if needed be. "But don't worry, if we discover this is all a misunderstanding, you will be fre to go... Otherwise...."


((OOC: This is an event, things will need to be cleared up outside the RP))