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Post by xaen on Jan 20, 2013 20:50:41 GMT 1
‘Thank the gods’ Ivan sighed mentally to himself when Clover finally muttered out her yield. He immediately released her arm and helped her to her feet; she staggered terribly as Ivan guided her to the healer that had been tending to Cam. Easing her down onto the bench Ivan ordered a nearby peacekeeper to find a second healer, so that Cam’s and Clover’s injuries could be healed swiftly. Stepping back from the twins, Ivan smiled proudly at the young recruits that never ceased to amaze him when he trained them. He turned away from them for a moment to regard the gathered crowd of peacekeepers, all of them chattering excitedly to each other about placed bets, the outcome of the match, and the injuries the Rue’s sustained. Clapping is hands together forcefully to get the attention of the gathered crowd, Ivan boomed, “All of you back to your duties!” With groans disappointment the assemble peacekeepers dispersed, and once they had all cleared out Ivan turned around to face Cam and Clover. “Both of you fought marvellously! But Cam as I said before practice on your form and your battle reflexes, and Clover you need to curb your anger it made you sloppy and predictable,” Ivan half-congratulated half-criticized, as he pulled a nearby bench over so that he could sit across from them. He coughed fiercely for a good solid moment into a handkerchief he had hastily retrieved from his pocket, before sitting on the bench he had retrieved. Ivan stowed away the handkerchief, and wiped some sweat from his brow as his slightly heavy breathing eased back to its normal calm draw. Ivan easily noticed the harsh glare Clover was levelling his way; it wasn’t easy for him to discern the reasons behind it. “Clover, I know you think I should have held back, but how are you two supposed to become better warriors if I coddle you?” Ivan huffed in a gentle tone hoping to cool the fires in Clover’s eyes.
It didn’t take Vlan’Tur long before he caught up with the caravan headed for Galvin’s Port, and it was no surprise that once Representative Baltev spotted him the caravan came to a screeching halt. Vlan’Tur sighed in frustration knowing beyond a doubt that the Lord Colmane would assuredly try to confront him about their recently interrupted argument. Thankfully before Colmane could turn his horse about Commander Velten whispered something into the sneering nobleman’s ear. Representative Baltev’s sneer softened into a frown of contempt, and motioned the caravan forward without turning about to verbally assault Vlan’Tur. Commander Velten on the other hand turned about and rode over to Vlan’Tur as his men rode slowly pasted him with Lord Colmane.
“General Vlan’Tur, what brings you along for the journey?” Commander Velten inquired as he rode alongside the Vorshtaran nomad, who practically became a citizen of Erumara in the past few months.
“Duke Mraen requested that I insure the safe arrival of Representative Baltev Colmane, to gather a report from Ivan’s Respite, and to invite the Reven Ravens for a visit to Luthien’s Rest,” Vlan’Tur replied as he stared hatefully at the back of Colmane’s head, making Velten chuckle quietly to himself.
“I wonder how well the Duke thought that plan through, since you to would kill each other as simply as looking at on another,” Velten teased Vlan’tur as he shared a friendly smile with Colmane, who glanced over his shoulder to shoot daggers from his eyes at Vlan’Tur. “The next two days will be interesting for sure,” Velten laughed again as he rode up to his second in command, which was waving him up to her.
They rode for hours stopping only once for a quick lunch before continuing on. The day was thankfully uneventful between Vlan’Tur and the hothead Baltev, since they were able to avoid each other for the most part, and when they were forced to interact they managed to maintain stoic and peaceful. The sun was about to set when all hell broke loose. Commander Velten had slowed the caravan down so he could announce that they would be stopping for the night and picking up early the following morning, when an arrow tore through his throat dropping him from his saddle to hang by his tether beside his horse. Spooked by the death of its rider the horse bolted dragging Velten’s body with it, inadvertently saving itself from a wave of arrows that flashed from the nearby tree line. Of the three dozen riders that were scrambling trying to figure out what they should do, six of them dropped from their saddles full of needles like pin cushions. Captain Selle, Velten’s second in command, managed to gather the survivors and create some assembly of order, but before any defensive measures could be taken a second wave of arrows rushed from the trees and a group of camouflaged archers emerged from their fox holes in the plains to fire a barrage on their exposed flanks. Vlan’Tur managed to fire his crossbow a few times into the forest, and pick off one of the archers out in the plains. Before any counter measures could be taken against this new threat, lance wielding riders suddenly charged the confused peacekeepers from the east and west. Thinking quickly Captain Selle ordered those with shields to form walls on their northern and southern flanks, while those with lances countercharged the enemy cavalry. Meanwhile Vlan’Tur to a quick count of their enemy, there were roughly fourteen archers divided between the plains and the forest, and twenty cavalry; ten approaching on each flank. The odds were not that bad, but the enemy had the element of surprise and first blood which put the peacekeeper force at a disposition. Vlan’Tur along with the six other peacekeeper archers continued to fire from horse back at the charging cavalry, since they and Baltev were safely in the middle of the shield walls. The shield walls effectiveness lasted a brief few minutes though before the enemy archers began to aim for the horses. The mounted shield bearers tumbled one by one to the ground with their horses, some were crushed to death by their horses or crippled from the fall, and those few who survived the fall were cut down by the concealed archers. Vlan’Tur seeing their vulnerability ordered those around him to charge the eastern band of enemy cavalry so they could try and break free from the kill box. Thankfully the column of riders managed to cut down a few members of the enemy cavalry to open a path, but more than a dozen were cut down in their flight.
Roughly half of the peacekeeper force had been cut down in the span of ten minutes, Vlan’Tur and Baltev followed the Captain Selle and a band of seven riders in a group of seven others. Believing that they could out run the enemy the Captain ordered Vlan’Tur and Baltev to run ahead while she and the other riders served as rearguard. After a few moments of relative peace, Vlan’Tur believed that they would escape tragedy but his thoughts turned to terror as he heard a diabolical chant whispering on the winds from the forest. Suddenly from the forest ahead of the column of survivors, a barrage of black fire emerged from the woods and grew in magnitude as it flew through the air for Captain Selle and the other surviving peacekeepers. Vlan’Tur, Baltev and three other peacekeepers managed to out run the horrible fire balls, but everyone else was not so lucky. With a powerful drumroll of explosions, Peacekeepers were thrown through the air, blasted to pieces, or completely engulfed in black flames that burned more like acid than fire. “Ride hard!” Vlan’Tur roared to those few left as he spurred his mare to incredible speeds with the others immediately on his heels. They rode the night through before they stopped, even though the ambushers gave up chase immediately following the explosions of the black fire balls. They rested briefly the following morning, but could not find a scrap of sleep for the tormented screams of the dying plagued their minds.
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Post by Culmir on Jan 22, 2013 13:14:09 GMT 1
For Cam this was the hardest thing to do, he knew clover would be surrendering her self-preservation in this fight and he knew his sister to be erratic and not to think things through before she went with it. For her it was all natural, act first, think about it later and it usually ended up with him having to pick up the pieces. Cam waved off the healers concern when she addressed his wounds, his ribs were bruised and were being wrapped in a supportive bandage to prevent him from straining too far and bruise them even more. He grimaced and the healer apologised, little did the woman know that he was grimacing for his sister who had just received a number of brutal punches from Ivan. It was nerve wracking to simply sit through this sparring match and not being allowed to intervene, a couple of times Cam caught himself shouting to his sister to try to keep her from opening herself to attack. While Clover might not agree to his methods Ivan had in fact managed to increase their abilities in hand to hand combat. When the battle was over Cam moved to the side of the bench he was occupying, tangling himself with a flustered healer who kept muttering darkly to herself about unruly patients and thinking the need to strap them down was probably needed soon.
Clovers right eye was slowly beginning to swell shut, she hadn’t even realised she was hit in some places until they began to throb painfully. Cam shot Clover a dark look as she sat down beside him, keeping her left leg stretched, unable to bend it without stabs of agony shooting down her calf, she probably twisted the muscle, or worse, tore it. A defiant glint still prominent in Clovers eyes as she finally turned towards her twin, she saw the scolding in his eyes and arched an eyebrow delicately, daring him to speak up now, her lips set in a tight line. Shaking his head Cam sighed “pray to Vallysar that you haven’t broken anything” he muttered at his sister who frowned. “Hear whose talking mister with his broken nose” Clover replied tartly.
Cam chose wisely not to respond to that as at that moment his healer placed her hands on either side of his nose, snapping it back into position with a crack. Groaning Cam suffered through it, the tingling feeling of nerves no longer being blocked made for a strange sensation in his face, he watched cross-eyed as the healer placed a small strip over the bridge of his nose to keep the bone set in place before nodding in approval “Okay you’re all set” she spoke to him and Cam nodded gratefully “Thanks” he coughed, his ribs pulsing painfully with the motion.
Clover reached up tentatively, feeling her right eye as she could no longer see through it from the swelling, her remaining eye darting to the healer furtively who was eyeing her swollen eyesocket with set determination. “Cam....” Clover started when her assigned healer rummaged in his medical bag and drew forth a medicinal lance, used for bloodletting and puncturing boils and the like. Clutching her brothers arm tightly Clover watched apprehensively as the healer approached her. “What are you doing?” Clover asked wearily as the man stopped in front of her “I’m going to puncture the blood pooling above your eye to reduce the swelling so you can see again, it’s still going to blacken but you won’t have to look through one eye instead of two” he smiled at her as he placed his hand gently on the left side of Clovers face to prevent her from pulling away to the left, assessing the best place to puncture the swollen area on the right. Nails digging into Cams arm he turned to his sister confused until he saw the predicament, grey eyes wide in fear Clover was unable to tear her gaze from the diabolical lance in the healers hand like it was a live snake. “Uhm..” Cam spoke to the healer “would it be okay if I did it?” he asked both the healer as his sister, seeing the wild panic spreading through his twin as it made him feel anxious as well. The healer was taken aback slightly by the odd request but shrugged “Sure, you just listen to what I tell you to do okay” he handed the lance over to Cam who faced his sister squarely. “You trust me” he whispered softly to his scared twin who nodded slowly, grey eyes never leaving the sharp pin in her brothers hand “okay, close your eyes” Cam told Clover who dug her nails deeper into Cam but complied.
“Okay you want to puncture it right there” the healer spoke to Cam as he pointed out a small spot over Clovers pinched eyebrows as she shook quietly, clinging to Cams arm for dear life. “I see” Cam said calmly, trying to radiate confidence to his sister whose shaking diminished slightly “On three” he spoke gently, preparing the pin close to his sisters face. “One, two” he punctured the swelling swiftly, Clover yelped as blood pooled from the small but significant hole, grabbing the handful of wadding from the healer Cam put it against his sisters eye. “Good job” the healer sat, patting Cam on the shoulder “now you need to put pressure on it to make all the blood come out else it will be for nothing and you’ll need to puncture again” he spoke urgently. A small whimper came from Clover as Cam pushed ever so slightly on her eyesocket, gathering all the blood in the wadding pressed against his twins features. “That’ll do” the healer spoke briskly as he removed the lance from Cams fingers as well as the bloodied bandage from Clovers eye, he shot an pensive look at Cams handiwork “You did good boy” he smiled briefly before gathering his equipment and moving on. When Ivan turned back to the twins from lightly scolding the on looking peacekeepers he found both of them sitting silently on the bench, their wounds tended and ready to heal while their pride might take a little longer to recover. Cam nodded pensively when Ivan told him his form and reflexes weren’t up to the level expected of him, he would have to use the training dummies some more he figured, maybe he could even convince some of the peacekeepers to help him and give him some pointers. Clover on the other hand narrowed her eyes upon hearing what Ivan said, her left eyebrow arching slightly as she silently glared at the man. “Gee,” she started, the sarcasm dripping from her voice “I don’t know, maybe actually telling us while in combat what we’re doing wrong, rather than trying to let us figure out on our own afterwards” she snapped.
The master of assassins sighed, his hand cramped painfully around a quill as he worked his way through a pile of parchment. The master kept glancing towards the door of the small, but well lit attic he was using as his writing chambers, he was expecting a report from the assassins he had sent out to follow the other group of shadowknights, assassins and Arcanum. It didn’t take long before a black clad apprentice stealthily made her way into the attic, her eyes darting to the corners as taught properly to confirm there was no one but the master in the room before striding over to the mysterious leader of the assassins guild and handing him a tied scroll. The master glanced at the scroll, his eyes locking onto the still intact seal that marked it as assassins business before dismissing the young pupil with a curt nod. He waited until she exited the room, listening for the telltale footsteps on his stairs and the loud creaks he had put in by a carpenter on all the step of these stairs to let him know for sure the assassin had made it downstairs. No one but him knew the sequence of the creaks so any trying to deceive him by simply stepping on some steps but not actually descending down the stairs would find him or herself in for a surprise. Slipping a knife from his robes the master slid it deftly behind the seal, breaking it smoothly, he then first checked if the seal itself was still consistent of the same wax issued to only his higher echelon. Unfortunately in this day and age there were plenty of ways to break a seal and then reattach it to the parchment, it had taken some cunning and a large knowledge of alchemy to come up with this wax that changed colour when reheated to melt again. The master nodded approvingly when the seal showed no signs of discolouration in any form, and when held to a candle the remaining puddle of wax switched from their dark purple to a vibrant gold, if anyone had attempted to duplicate the seal the colour would not of changed. And if anyone had broken the seal and then craftily glued it together there would be traces of purple wax in the molten puddle, there was none, so this message was authentic and safe. Turning his gaze onto the parchment he speedily read what had transpired in the woods, satisfied and sure his faithful followers would do as they were told he held the parchment to the candles flames, letting the fire consume the message entirely before turning back to his writing.
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Post by xaen on Jan 22, 2013 18:57:11 GMT 1
Ivan sighed and rubbed his forehead in contemplation before he spoke, “Most would think that is how to teach fighting,but fighting is primarily instinct and reaction, Clover. The forms, the styles, and the moves are easily taught and mastered, but one does not master combat through the mastery of the skills. Instead you master the art of combat through the application of these skills in a real fight, and if I don't add a little realism to your training you will not be properly prepared to protect yourself or...Gods forfend.... another life.” Ivan went silent both to let his words sink in and to think sad thoughts about his previous pupils, who comprised the band of the previous Reven Ravens. 'Five deaths easily prevented' Ivan thought despairingly as he looked each of the Rue's in the eye, with a look that said “Please understand, I don't want to hurt you anymore than I have to.” With that Ivan backed away and softened his features into a gruff looking smile, saying evenly, “Take the rest of the day off, you younglings have earned it.” Brief salute, and then he departed the courtyard. He didn't quite now where he was going but he didn't care, too many horrible old memories plagued his old mind. Ivan often found it hard to connect with people because of the loss of his family and closest friend, and do not even mention the deaths of the previous Reven Ravens. Ever since that horrible day three years ago, Ivan blamed himself for their demises because he felt that he had failed them from the start when he had been training them much like how he was Cam and Clover. Ivan was older and colder at heart than he was on the outside, and walking quietly like a storm cloud never seemed to make the pain of loss dull.
Vlan'Tur, Baltev Colmane, and three peacekeepers rode in gloomy silence as they moved their tired horses at a slow trot along the Eastern Road. All of their nerves were stretched beyond their norm, all of them twitched repeated from sudden small noises from the nearby forest; especially Baltev who yelped a few times in terror when a squirrel or some other woodland rodent disturbed the foliage. Vlan'Tur though was stoic for the most part, starting once or twice whenever Baltev's yelps caused the other peacekeepers to grab for weapons, or make cries of warning. Vlan'Tur also brooded over the wholesale slaughter for it tugged at the strings of his soul that someone could so mercilessly engulf routed enemies in acidic flame. The ambushed had happened nearly half a day ago, still Vlan'Tur refused to allow any stops least the enemy try to finish them off. What bothered Vlan'Tur the most about the whole ordeal was that he had hardly played a part in the battle while others around him died. Though at the steady pace they made they would reach Ivan's Respite early tomorrow morning.
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Post by Culmir on Jan 24, 2013 20:26:01 GMT 1
Clover listened to Ivan, trying to see the reasoning behind her words but finding them wanting. Instinct and reaction sure she huffed silently, when it was with a preferred weapon sure, other skills were cultivated more meticulously by instruction, not blind groping for answers and getting no confirmation when in the right direction. She understood the part about needing to add realism to the sparring, when it was necessary, like when in their respective fields, bladed weapons where they were more than able to defend themselves in actual combat, Clover at least thought they proved that much when they were battling in Fort Revenald. She sighed and let the conversation die, she didn’t see the point in arguing this case any further, besides she could tell from her brothers posture that he agreed with Ivan and really arguing with both her twin as her teacher tended to drag into the day even more, something she was reluctant to do as she had spent most of her night outside.
Cam saw the smooth transition of his sisters thoughts as they displayed in small characteristical marks on her face, he doubted even Ivan could read the tells as he could, she was after all his twin sister. He was mildly surprised when Clover didn’t continue to argue with Ivan, he had expected her to follow through with her remarks. Cam breathed a small sigh of relief when Ivan gave them the rest of their day off, he didn’t know about Clover but he sure could use some rest. He watched as Ivan backed away from them, leaving the two battered twins sitting beside each other on the bench. Cam glanced at Clover “soooo,” he drawled “what you want to do?” he shot his sister a glance, hoping she’d say they’d better retire for the day, but the glint in her eyes spoke otherwise.
Clover eyed her brother thoughtfully as he asked her what they should go do, her grey eyes locking onto his ever growing hair pensively as she tugged on her own too long locks. “We could ask Poldera if she can cut our hair?” Clover suggested. Cam thought about it briefly, running a hand through his hair, tugging it up so he could gauge the length before nodding “seems like it’s necessary” he agreed. Getting up from the small bench Cam extended his hand to Clover who took it gratefully, winching slightly when she hobbled onto her leg, her knee still twang in a small burst of pain but as they walked to the communal kitchen it eased marginally.
They found the homely cook in the middle of prepping for the days lunch, large pots of boiling stews were bubbling away merrily on the stove and a trio of serving girls were kneading bread dough before passing it onto large wooden plates to be put into the ovens by the kitchen boys after being formed into their proper shapes. Poledra was waving her spoon like a scepter around the kitchen, dipping into the numerous stews and adding small pinches of this and that before stirring briskly and tasting again until it met her approval, at which she nodded and moved onto the next pot in line. She didn’t notice the twins entering and was speaking calmly to one of the serving girls “No love” she chided gently, pulling the girls hands from the soggy dough “you want to use your knuckles and flip it over after four of five kneads okay” she eyed the girl who nodded in understanding. Smiling contently Poledra turned, noticing the bandaged twins and tsking loudly “Ivan really worked on you two hasn’t he” she stated more than asked. Cam shrugged as Clover plopped down on the bench by the kitchen table, pilfering a celery stick from the chopping block and chewing it with a audible crunch. Poledra bustled into action upon seeing Cams hungry look at the celery stick his twin was devouring “Let me guess” the matron chef spoke as she moved through the large kitchen “you two were out again in town and forgot to eat breakfast as usual” she said as she drew out two freshly baked loafs of bread and sliced them open easily with a knife she grabbed from the counter, she dug out the inside of the loaf and ladled spoonfuls of the chicken stew for Clover into one loaf, setting it down in front of her and repeating the process for Cam, filling his bread trencher with a pork stew. Cam sat down gratefully, pulling the plate with his would be breakfast and lunch combo towards him, digging in happily as his sister was already spooning mouthfuls of the stew down. Clover had stuck what remained of her celery stick into the trencher and chewed bits of it every now and again until it was all gone. Once the stew was spooned out of the trenchers the twins proceeded to eat the now stew saturated bread, and it was delicious. Poledra smiled briefly as she watched the twins dig into the food with gusto before resuming her cooking duties, she still had a lot of prep work to do to feed the large crew inhabiting the keep at Ivans respite, some days she missed when she had worked the kitchens at Fort Revenald but she understood the duke had plenty of other chefs to choose from. She was however happy to be able to serve the delightful twins and of course the gruffly bear Ivan himself who was namesake of the keep they inhabited.
Cam belched loudly when he finished eating, leaning back before remembering he was actually sitting on a bench, not a chair, so no back to lean against. Clover slapped her brother on the arm “Don’t be so rude” she hissed, Cam rubbed at his sore arm “owwww” he whispered, his twin had hit him right on a sore spot and he saw the regret instantly on Clovers face “it’s okay” he added swiftly before she could start apologising. “Poledra” Cam started politely, making the white haired chef turn her delicate face towards the twins, an eyebrow raised in question “we were wondering if you could perhaps cut our hair?” Cam asked almost sheepishly. Poledra laughed, a most delicate bell like sound as she wiped her hands on her pristine white apron “Sure” she smiled “but most certainly not in here” she added sternly, ushering the twins off the bench and back out into the courtyard. Drawing a small stool out from the kitchen Poledra motioned for one of them to sit down, Cam went first, retreating inside for a moment Poledra came back from the kitchens carrying scissors and began snipping away at Cams hair. She hummed while she cut Cams hair and Clovers next, it didn’t take long before both twins were back to resembling themselves as they had first presented themselves to her in her kitchen. “All done, be a dear and sweep up the hair and throw it into the barrel with the other kitchen refuge” she smiled and bustled off into the kitchen again as lunch had come and gone and Poledra now had to hurry to get dinner ready in time. Clover grabbed a broom and swept the hair into a pile where Cam could pick it up and deposit it into the mentioned barrel.
Cam rubbed his eyes wearily, the food and the relaxing while his hair was getting cut had definitely caused him to be more tired than he was before. “I say nap time Clove” he said almost pleadingly to his twin who was just yawning widely, hiding it behind her hand as she nodded, for the moment unable to reply. Together they made their way slowly to their room, they shared this one for lack of room for the other inhabitants. As they crawled into their respective beds Clover smiled at her brother “Sure was an awesome day today” she snorted. Cam chuckled and nodded as he lay in his bed, blissfully covered by soft downy blankets “Sure was” he trailed off as the busy night and day caught up with them easily, setting them to sleep.
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Post by xaen on Jan 25, 2013 22:42:39 GMT 1
Ivan had walked quietly for hours after dismissing the Rue twins for the day. The walk was uneventful, but the small fortress turned slow growing community was a bustle with merchants, refugees, peacekeepers and travelers. Idly he took in his surrounds as he wandered the streets, admiring the wares and the simple excitement of life around him. It helped dull the painful memories of his lost friends and family. He stopped to watch as faithful men and women of Vallysar worked together to finish the small hospital/church that they had started the month before. Ivan watched as the head of the order in Ivan’s Respite proclaimed it opened for public use, drawing a cheer from the crowd that had surround the place to witness its opening. Moving on Ivan eventually ran into some children that were playing in the street, seemingly happily ignorant of the loss of their homes. He waited for the children to run past him out of his way before continuing on. He slowly drifted into his thoughts more intensely this time as he remembered how the previous Reven Ravens under his command perished. They had suspected the presence of a Ssthis’Thor cult behind the actions of the local street thugs in Revenald, and since that particular sect of fanaticism had decline in the past hundred years they assumed it would be a small force. In reality it had been a coalition of Ssthis’Thor cultist and Drow, Ivan’s Ravens were not prepared for such skilled combatants. All of five of the previous members were immediately cut down all with a great many peacekeepers that had come to help end this threat to Fort Revenald. A sharp bump to his head snapped Ivan back from the past to the present, having just walked into a young woman who hadn’t been paying attention much like he. “Sorry about that,” They both apologized before the young lady carried on her way. Ivan looked at the sky and saw that the sun was setting; he could hardly believe that he had so easily wasted the day away. Making his way back to the keep, Ivan wondered if he would find the Rue’s there still. Possibly they were helping Poldera or practicing their lessons. When he arrived he was mildly unsurprised that Cam and Clover were not in the training yard, and so not seeing them there he went into the kitchen. Poledra smiled warmly at Ivan when he walked through the door, she waved her spoon in a polite salute before continuing to use it as her scepter as she inspected tonight’s dinner. “Where are the younglings, Polly?” Ivan asked the matron cook in a calm and quiet tone, which reflected his exhaustion which was both external and internal.
Poledra giggled softly as she cut into the roasted boar that had been just pulled from the fire by two attendants, and sampled a piece to ensure that it was properly cooked. “They were exhausted, hungry, and sore after your lesson. So I believe the little sweethearts have packed it in for the day,” She cooed as she circled the room like a hurricane, sampling, cooking, cleaning, guiding, and approving as she went. Before she stopped abruptly in front of Ivan with a stern look on her face as she leveled her spoon at his throat, “You need to take it a little easier on them kids and guide them through it more! I say their hurts! You best treat them kids better or I’ll give you a good beating, Sir!” Once she finished her warning, Poledra swooped in for a quick peck on his cheek, winking at him mischievously as she returned to her twirling procedure in the kitchen. Ivan moved to enter the main hall of the keep from the kitchen access, but before he could leave Poledra called out to him over the bustle of the kitchen, “Be carefully Sweety! People might start thinking your sweet on me if you keep calling me, Polly!” The comment made Ivan blush as he left the kitchen to find his personal quarters so he could sleep the remaining daylight hours away.
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Post by Culmir on Jan 29, 2013 14:50:47 GMT 1
When Cam and Clover awoke the next morning they were well rested but their muscles were stiff and hurting from the exercise the day before. Groaning Cam was the first to actually attempt to get up and out of the comfortable warmth of his bed, his eyes shifting to the pile of blankets on the bed across the room, seeing the tousled hair of his twin as she peeked over the covers at her brother wearily, knowing he would likely tell her to get up once he did. Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed Cam got up slowly, feeling the agonising pop of his muscles as he stretched slowly. There was a dull throb of pain pulsing steadily behind his eyes as he sighed heavily, gingerly feeling his nose when the intake of air shot a small but significant stab of pain through his still recovering nose. The bandage that had been placed to keep the bone from setting wrong was still in place, that at least was a small sign of good luck, Cam didn’t much want his nose to be broken again simply because it hadn’t set right. Slipping into his clothes cautiously, weary that any wrong pull on his sore muscles might send him spasms of pain Cam glared at his sisters bed “Clove...” he started warningly, she knew that they had to get up, surely there were things to be done and undoubtedly Ivan would want to see them too.
Clover rolled over, snuggling up to her pillow as she grunted in disapproval “no” she replied from under her blankets. Cam huffed as he sat down on a small stool to slip into his shoes “Really? Not even for breakfast?” he asked testily, not really in the mood today to argue with his sister about her tendency to stay in bed all day if it were up to her. Ever so slowly Clovers head began to peek out from under the blankets, when her face emerged Cam couldn’t help but stare, her right eye had blackened to the most wonderful shade of blue overnight. Seeing his expression Clover fell back into bed, landing in a pile of pillows she had hoarded from everywhere “I can’t go out like this” she whined, pulling her blankets back over her head. Snorting Cam moved across the room and sat down on the edge of Clovers bed “It’s not that bad” he said as he tugged the blankets away from his twin “I’m sure the people here have seen worse black eyes” he teased “besides, the peacekeepers that were watching will probably have told everyone how courageous you were to stand up to Ivan” Cam tried seeing if the compliment would tempt his sister not to plaster her face with some gooey stuff that was supposed to help mask what women called imperfections. Unfortunately for Cam Clovers eyes darted immediately over to the small vanity where the small pot of the weird looking stuff stood waiting. “Well maybe” Clover said as she shifted the heaps of blankets off and meandered over to the desk. Cam huffed “I don’t know why you insist to smear that stuff on your face, there’s no one here that cares how you look really” he said exasperated as his sisters fingers hovered above the jar.
Clovers ears glowed red, much like her brothers did when he was embarrassed “You never know who might show up” she trailed as she picked up her hairbrush and attempted to untangle the haystack that was her hair. Cam caught on easily “Cyrteris isn’t going to come here, he has better things to do than come see how we’re doing” he said snidely “so don’t bother putting on make up, or trying to get your hair to look as smooth as you see all those other high born ladies wear it in town, he’s not going to be around to see it anyway, and if he were here he wouldn’t have time for me or you” he continued relentlessly “and if we don’t get a move on quick, we’re not going to get breakfast before Ivan sends us out again for training or some other errand” he finished, turning on his heel and storming out of the room. Clover sat before the mirror dumbstruck, she’d never heard her brother lash out at her like that before, the brush hanging halfway in her hair, of course he was right, who was she kidding. Giving up on trying to get her hair to behave Clover tugged it back tightly and wrapped a leather band around it in a high ponytail, she gave one last look at the concealer on her desk before turning away from it and getting dressed. The last thing she did before heading out of their shared room was grabbing her kodachi and Cams katana, they agreed not to be caught without a weapon again since yesterdays training. Heading down the winding stairs Clover sighed, hoping her brothers temper would be eased once he got some food in him.
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Post by xaen on Jan 29, 2013 16:07:08 GMT 1
Vlan’Tur’s, Baltev’s, and the three surviving peacekeepers’ horses, unlike Vlan’Tur’s early optimistic estimation, reached their breaking point during the night ride. Two of the exhausted horses stumbled in the dark and spilled their riders painfully to the ground. Baltev and the one peacekeeper both groaned softly from where the horses had tossed them. “General Vlan’Tur, the horses will take no more and neither can we,” The young female peacekeeper half-told half-yawned to Vlan’Tur as she and the other mounted members stopped to look after their fallen comrades.
Vlan’Tur sighed loudly in agitation, but nodded his head in consideration of the young officer’s statement. He looked idly down to his own mare, and looking into its eyes he could tell that it was all the poor thing could do to stay upright. “Alright then we shall set up camp for the night, but we will start out again at the break of dawn,” He turned his horse away from the road as he finished speaking, since he knew it would not be safe to camp along the road. They didn’t go far from the road before the spotted a small fire on a nearby hill. Immediately Vlan’Tur snapped up a hasty hand signal for them to halt, but Baltev unschooled in Peacekeeper combat communications reacted differently.
“Hey look another traveller! Maybe they can help us! Or even feed us!” Baltev Colmane hooted as he abandoned his effort to pull his mare alongside him as he followed Vlan’tur and the others, and charged off over the hills as fast as his tired legs could carry him to the fire a mere six hills away. “Stop you fool!” Called the female peacekeeper, but he refused to turn back and continued on his way. “Damn it!” She swore as she gave chase on her tired mount hoping to catch the fool before he alerted whoever owned the small blaze. Sadly it was too late to avoid detection, Baltev’s constantly shouted greetings made a figure emerge from behind a small covered wagon, that the female peacekeeper could now see against the darkness of the night. The newcomer waved politely and moved to intercept the dashing Representative of Galvin’s Port. “Fair evening, Stranger!” The owner of the wagon said to Baltev when he reached his campsite. “Hail! I am Lord Baltev Colmane of Galvin’s Port,” by then the peacekeeper that had been chasing after him entered the ring of light cast by the fire, and seeing her identified her, “And this is one of my bodyguards. I was hoping you would be willing to share your fire with us?”
“Gladly, how many more of you are there?” The old wagon man inquired cheerfully as he stared at the young peacekeeper with a bizarre look in his eyes.
“Three more,” Baltev told him, eagerly moving next to the fire so he could lie down next to its warmth. “Vlan’Tur! It’s safe! He’s just a kindly elderly man!” Baltev called to three riders that were still out quietly moving through the night on their tired mounts. It wasn’t long before they walked out of the darkness leading their horses, for they had already started the short walk to the camp when Baltev had charged off. The three peacekeepers eagerly accepted the elderly wagon drivers offered to warm themselves and rest, while Vlan’Tur quietly watched the strange old man who looked at them all with a rather unnerving look in his eyes. “Who wants some stew?” The old man asked as he retrieved a large pot from his wagon, filling it with water from a skin as he walked it over to the fire. Baltev and the others readily accepted his offer, hopping onto their feet to help the elderly man set up the pot’s stand and gathering some more wood for the fire. Vlan’Tur watched all of this silently, even carefully monitoring what the wagon driver put into the soup, for a something about the old man continued to nag at his mind. Once the stew was ready, the wagon divided it evenly into six bowls, one for each of them including Vlan’Tur and himself. As far as he could tell nothing negative was put into the stew, and only once the wagon driver began to devour his own bowl full did Vlan’Tur eat his own. Once the stew was finished the peacekeepers and Baltev prepared to sleep, but Vlan’Tur ordered the young female to watch over them as they slept. Vlan’Tur found a spot and began to half-sleep half-meditate, while the others slept. The young female officer grumbled in exhaustion as she moved away from the fire so that her eyes could properly adjust to the darkness, so she could perform her watch duties with ease. An hour slipped by and the others were sound asleep, even the untrusting Vlan’Tur. She felt tired and a little hungry, since she could hardly bring herself to eat much unlike the others who all devoured their bowls of stew.
“May I join you?” A gentle voice asked from behind her, making her jump. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, I thought that since you’re out here alone you could use some company. And maybe some more stew,” He said to her as he sat down next to her offering the steaming bowl of stew to her as he sat. Her stomach growled and her hunger overpowered tongue, making her greedily grab the stew without saying a word of thanks or anything. The wagon driver chuckled, revealing perfectly white teeth and unusually black gums. He watched her quietly as she ate, and out of the corner of her eye, she couldn’t help but notice that his demeanor seemed to slowly change as she ate. He straightened his back, stared hungrily at her, smiled weirdly, and seemed ready to strike her. She began to feel woozy the moment she put down the bowl in the grass.
“What’s happening?” She slurred, scared and confused, she tried to get to her feet but only managed to stumble and fall after a few staggering steps. Panicked by her gradually fading vision, she called to Vlan’Tur and the others, but they were in a dead sleep. A terrifying chuckle made her attempt to crawl over to the others, but before long her limbs began to feel stiff and unresponsive. “Whhy....What’s going on?” She mumbled slurring her words horribly as she rolled onto her back to look at the old man.
Only he wasn’t an old man, but a young and rather unattractive man. He laughed wildly as he cast aside his disguise. “I could be something you ate?” He teased and laughed again as he approached her, drawing a horribly serrated dagger as he went. She tried to argue that he had eaten the stew as well but her words were hardly cohesive. He grabbed a hold of her and dragged her back to the others, who were clearly trapped in sleep by whatever drug he had used on her as well. He left her vision for a moment and returned with a couple lengths of rope, and using that rope he bound each of his captives. Leaving her for last, he tied them up and hoisted them into the wagon. She was both amazed and horrified by his strength when he lifted Vlan’Tur with moderate difficultly into his wagon. When he finally returned to deal with her, she could hardly tell if she was still conscious. “And as to why I’m doing this, it’s because you all look so tasty!” He drooled as he lifted her into the wagon, and she fainted.
Ivan had gotten up before the dawn, and had dealt with all of his General duties before breakfast. He waited in the mess hall for the Rue twins while he ate a delicious plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausages that Poledra had cooked specifically for him. Since it was one of his most favourite meal. She came out of the kitchen occasionally to chat with him, and to deliver food to the stirring Peacekeeper garrison with her staff. The morning was as uneventful in Ivan’s Respite as the night before had been, peacefully at ease Ivan contemplated what he would have the Rue’s do for the day. ‘Maybe I could send them west to Luthien’s Rest to get an update from Cyrteris’ he thought, ‘or I could set up a false Intel trail to help improve their infiltration skills, should they ever be required to infiltrate Asendil’. “Confound it! I don’t know,” he grumbled softly in frustration to himself as he ate and waited for the Rue’s.
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Post by Culmir on Jan 30, 2013 12:59:07 GMT 1
Cam was the first to enter the kitchen, his expression dark as he plopped down on a bench, eyes moody as he stared at the assorted food that was across the table, not even aware that Ivan was sitting opposite of him. Cam picked up the fork set beside his plate and stabbed a fat sausage from the plate they were piled onto, he bit off the end angrily as he snatched some pieces of toast from a different plate, grumbling softly to himself.
Poledra was like a whirlwind around the kitchen, she caught the last end of Ivan soft remark to himself and she placed a hand lightly on his shoulder, giving it an assuring squeeze as she put a few more bits of bacon on Ivan’s plate, knowing how much the old bear loved them. Her eyes darted over to Cam as he entered her kitchen, she watched quietly as the young man seemed to be having a bad morning, sighing she turned to her stove, minding her new batch of toast as they burned to a lovely golden brown in the large oven. Pulling them once they were done Poledra reached for the jar of her special honey that she usually kept for her household remedies for headaches, it was intensely sweet and hard to come by as it was carefully cultivated on Venusia, harvested from a flower only found in the ebon cut swamp. Carefully dripping a teaspoon full of the honey onto the slab of toast she set it down before Cam and whirled off again, hoping the honey would do the trick and ease whatever was bothering him.
Clover entered the kitchen wearily, her eyes drawn to Ivan immediately as her brother sat opposite of him, his back was now at her but from the set of his shoulders and the tension in his back he still was bothered by something. Poledra frowned at the girl and Clover stared at the matron chef bewildered until Poledra lifted her hand towards her eye, shrugging Clover gestured it was fine, a questioning expression on Poledras face until she turned back to her cooking. Staring back at the breakfast table Clover wondered if Cam had even noticed that he was sitting across Ivan, she let her feet carry her to the table, choosing to sit with Ivan this time, figuring her brother needed some time away from her. She turned to face Ivan who seemed pensive as she grabbed some toast from a plate and Poledra swooped in almost immediately to pile a generous amount of scrambled eggs onto her plate. Smiling gratefully Clover dug into her breakfast, mumbling around her breakfast to Ivan “So, what’s the plan for today?” her eyes darting to Cam who was munching angrily on his last piece of toast.
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Post by xaen on Jan 30, 2013 15:53:43 GMT 1
Ivan started when Clover spoke to him ask about the day's plans, he had been so deep in his thoughts he hadn't noticed Cam or Clover sit down at his table. Now that it was a pressing issue that required immediate attention, Ivan thought quickly and decisively about what he and the Rue's would do today. Coming to a decision he turned to regard Clover, and his heart began to ache a little when he saw the horrible bruise he had inflicted on her. Ivan didn't quite know why he felt that he needed to inform about the fates of his previous Ravens, perhaps it was the fact that Clover's injury resembled another's. Swallowing his mouthful of bacon and eggs, “Today we will work on your intelligence and infiltration skills, but before we set about that I have something to tell you...” Ivan paused and sighed in despair, and looked directly at Cam making sure the young man was paying as much attention to him as his sister was. “Its about the previous band of Raven's,” He breathed through tight lips as he set down his fork and stared at his eggs as if he could see the floor under the table. It was absolutely quiet in their corner of the kitchen, and even the energetic Poledra stopped as if her boot had be captured by deep mud. The pause was long and uncomfortable but Ivan's mind was not there with them, until Clover gentle asked him to continue.
Sighing again profusely he started his tale, “It was three years ago, and there was five members, three young men and two young women. I still remember their names, Lindon March, Kiendal Isgard, Victor Gorfeld, Callie Minar, and Natalie Dinma. We had reports of demonic worshippers in the city, and so we began to investigate......Victor was captured, tortured, and brutalized before they killed him, and left his body in the street. From his...body...we were able to discern that they were Ssthis'Thor cultists. A week later we managed to track down a sect in the city, but my Raven's hadn't quite mastered the lessons....and once the Drow started to pour out of a secret tunnel in the compound....I watched as they were mercilessly cut to pieces by the Drow or mutilated by Demonic magics. Only Lindon and I managed to escape with our lives and so I tried to get him to come with me to summon the city's peacekeepers....but his anger clouded his judgement and he charged back into the fray....when I returned with reinforcements the compound was sealed shut and Lindon's head was nailed to the door....once we had slain all of the cultists, drove the Drow back, and sealed the tunnel....not much was left of my young friends to bury.”
With a sigh of regret he picked up his fork and played with his eggs in silence as he let the Rue's process his sad tale. Poledra put a comforting hand on his shoulder and pulled him into a light hug, planted a small kiss on his forehead before continuing on with her duties, noticeably with a lot less vigour than before.
The soft and slimy texture of cold mud was the first thing that Vlan'Tur felt when he woke from the dreamless sleep that over came him the night before. He didn't understand why it was incredibly difficult for him to open his eyes, and why his body felt numb and unresponsive. Once he managed to open his eyes his confusion only grew because he was looking up at a roughly burrowed dirt ceiling, with little snake-like tendrils poking periodically through it. A groan prompted Vlan'Tur to attempt to roll over to face the direction from where it came from, but his body on slightly listened to his command. Laying awkwardly on his side with little control of his muscles, he spotted Baltev a short distance away from him, lying in the muddy ground just like he was. Vlan'Tur immediately spotted the thick rope that bound Baltev's wrists and ankles, and seeing them made him aware of the uncomfortable feelings that forced his heels and wrists together. “What's going on?” He tried to asked but his tongue was still limp and numb for some reason, making his question smear into an in cohesive drooling slur. The sound of Vlan'Tur talking got Baltev's attention though. The nobleman slowly rotated his head toward where Vlan'Tur was lying.
“Vlan'Tur are you alright?” Baltev managed to gasp through his numb mouth, clearly his muscles were a little better than Vlan'Tur's were. Knowing he was unable to speak Vlan'Tur managed to slowly nod his head. “The others are over there,” He told the Vorshtaran across from him, jerking his head in the direction below Vlan'Tur's tightly bound feet.
Vlan'Tur managed to wiggle himself around to look in the indicated direction, and spotted the three peacekeepers immediately, but not the kindly old man that they had been with. He wiggled some more hopping to get some more motor control, as his arms and legs began to feel and move properly. Turning back to Baltev since the others looked like they hadn't even stirred yet, Vlan'Tur attempted to ask if Baltev knew where the old man was but yet again his words jumbled into an incoherent mess. Before Baltev could even try to decipher what the Vorshtaran man had said, a door opened somewhere and the sound of approaching footsteps silenced them. Vlan'Tur looked in the direction of the sound and saw an hideous looking individual step through the crude door that led into the dirt room, it was a man he had never seen before.
“Ah, I see that the poison is beginning to wear off,” The man drooled through jagged and uneven teeth that were stained a disgusting yellow and black combination, with dark blood oozing from his rotting gums. Long oily black hair untidily clung to his head and shoulders, his nose looked broken beyond recognition, his eyebrows were missing and his bloodshot yellow eyes darted around hungrily. The hideous man was probably no taller than five feet, and his long spindly arms ended with large vile dirty hand with long sharp fingernails.
“Who are you and what is going on?” Baltev demanded from where he lay on the cold wet ground.
The fiendish looking man, if that's what he was, laughed wildly contrasting his sickly pale skin with his disturbingly coloured teeth. The strange man waked with his legs slightly bent at all times, and skittered across the floor using his long arms to help propel himself faster than when he had used his legs. “Why your in my home,” He gargled a mouthful of discoloured saliva for a moment before striking Baltev with his long sharp nails, that were pretty close to being talons. Baltev screamed in agony as the fetid nails cut deep bleeding trenches through his face, making their host laugh again wildly. “Be respectful in my home, for I will tell you my name if I decide to, and not before,” Their capture slobbered a large bloody glob of saliva onto Baltev as he crab crawled over to the three peacekeepers. On of the male peacekeepers must have just awaken, since a gasp of shock and surprise suddenly sounded from where they lay bound. “What's the matter like pig scared?” The man mocked out of Vlan'Tur's line of sight to the man who had gasped, and now Vlan'tur heard him whimper in pain. “Oh I'm sorry did that hurt? Maybe this will help,” The drooling voice continued before a stomach churning fleshy splursh followed immediately by an agonized scream tore the air. The evil laughter continued as the man continued to whimper and groan in pain. A moment later the vile creature that held them captive reentered Vlan'Tur's line of sight dragging the wounded peacekeeper, Vlan'Tur gasped in horror and nearly lost his dinner upon seeing the young man's mangled face. His nose had been completely ripped off and part of his left ear was hanging on by a thread, with painful bloody trenches running through his skin like morbid rivers. The peacekeeper's moans echoed off the dirt walls as he was dragged out the crude wooden door into the unseen hallway beyond. It was quite in their holding cell before the blood curdle-ling screams began.
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Post by Culmir on Jan 30, 2013 16:55:32 GMT 1
Clover noticed the small start Ivan gave when she clearly broke his train of thought, so she gave him a moment to gather his thoughts back to the present time as she concentrated on finishing the last of her breakfast, at least her brother had seemed to grow out of his moody self. She noted the flicker of Ivans eyes to her face and she felt mortified when they rested on the large blue bruise that encompassed her right eyesocket and a bit of her cheekbone. Turning away hastily so that Ivan would be spared from having to look at it for long Clover turned to her still half full plate. Spearing a piece of her scrambled eggs Clover reached across the table for the small shaker of cinnamon and sprinkling a rather lavish amount on top of her eggs and then adding a good few spoons of sugar to the mix, she liked her breakfast sweet.
Cam munched on the toast Poledra had set before him, it tasted differently than the first two pieces he had eaten and it was surprisingly good, it left a very pleasant sweet taste in his mouth and an ever growing warmth in his stomach. By the time he had finished the very last morsel of the toast he felt better, and not to mention more than a little ashamed of his outburst towards his twin. He cast her a furtive glance across the table as she ate her breakfast, the black eye did stand out quite a bit and maybe she did have a point when she wanted to hide it, it was drawing a lot of attention as more peacekeepers had slunk in to have their breakfast in the allotted timeslot they had been given.
Both of the twins were listening to Ivans orders for today, Cam could see the wave of relief that slunk through Clovers shoulders when Ivan said all they’d be doing is intelligence and infiltration skills today, if there was something his sister loved doing it was sneaking around. Pulling a large jug of freshly squeezed oranges towards him Cam filled an earthenware mug with it, setting it across the table by his sisters plate as his grey eyes searched hers, a small tilt in his face and a quirking of his lips said a silent sorry to his twin. Clover saw the incoming mug of orange juice she liked so much, she was surprised it was coming from her twin, she looked up at him and saw the silent apology he was sending her way, she shrugged, all was forgiven.
The conversation turned a shade darker after that as Ivan chose this to be the moment to divulge to them and any other listeners in the kitchen area what had happened to the previous band of Reven Ravens. It took some coaxing on Clovers part to get Ivan to continue his tale once he announced that he would be sharing it with them now “Please continue” she said softly, not wanting to break his line of thought this time. It made her wonder if this was what he had been so engrossed in with his thoughts when she and her brother had entered the kitchen, usually their friendly teacher acknowledged them when they walked in, this didn’t happen today so maybe Ivan had been pondering telling them this story at the time. Silent everyone listened to Ivan, even Poledra who was usually everywhere around the kitchen remained standing by the ovens, giving a half hearted stir to whatever was boiling in the pot every now and again when it bubbled.
It shocked both twins to hear what the cultists of Ssthis’Thor had done to the former Reven Ravens, Cam and Clover had spend some days being trained in the numerous cults that were dominant in Erumara but they hadn’t fully grasped the evil some of them were capable of. Clover pushed away her plate, a few stray bits of egg still on it as she cradled her mug to herself, pulling her knees up on the bench and hugging them, she felt bad for arguing with Ivan now, maybe he did know the best ways of training them after all. “I’m sorry” she whispered, hoping Ivan would know it was both for his loss as he behaviour yesterday.
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Post by xaen on Feb 1, 2013 1:22:22 GMT 1
Ivan smiled grimly at Clover’s comforting words and Poledra’s hug, “It’s alright youngling, and sadly nothing can be done for them now. I just thought you two had the right to know why I can be such an ass during your training, and to know what had happened to your predecessors.” Finished speaking Ivan quickly shovelled what was left of his breakfast into his mouth and swallowed it all in one huge gulp. Rising quickly to his feet and moving away from the table, he calmly said to the Rue twins, “Meet me in the town square in an hour, by then I should have your lesson fully planned out.” He moved with great speed towards the door, feeling very uncomfortable and depressed, but Ivan knew in his heart that he had to tell them that story eventually. Even though it hurt him to talk about the pains of his past, Ivan couldn’t deny to himself that he felt a little better about it now.
Marvic’s eyes darted back and forth down the laneway, his face hidden beneath his low hood. He was incredibly agitated and understandably so, since he had barely evaded the Master’s spies to reach this secret meeting point, and his partner hadn’t arrived yet. Shuffling from foot to foot, Marvic began to contemplate leaving just as another hooded individual approached him from the designated direction. Once Rasvin Tresme began to walk past Marvic, the disguised King of Asendil fell in step alongside him and casually they walked together into the town’s market. “What news from our spies? And where by Ix’Cuat’s coin purse have you been? I haven’t seen you in days!?!”
“I have been laying low and avoiding, Assassins, Magae, Dark Priests, and Shadowknights! You know as well as I do that if either of us are caught snooping, they will kill us,” Rasvin snapped in a quiet hiss to avoid drawing attention to them. “And as for news, Grand Savant Kenras and his terrifying birdman are still missing. Kenras’ temporary replacement constantly butts heads with Isabelle and her Arcanites, tensions are high without Kenras’ suave attitude. The Master is still incognito. And our spies believe that Kheldar is part drow, and that his patience with the volatile Isabelle are wearing thin.”
Marvic thought long and hard as they walked, before he spoke, “Excellent work, Rasvin. Get your men to intercept the next report from the ambush team and purposely misplace it. That will get Isabelle fired up and hostile to the Master or Kheldar since they have to inform her every time they receive a message.” Rasvin nodded his understanding and turned to leave but Marvic grab his shoulder and stopped him to say, “And Rasvin, use expendable men to hire some expendable men. If you get my meaning.” Rasvin smiled evilly in understanding before hastily departing once Marvic released his shoulder. Carefully scanning the streets, buildings and rooftops for spies, Marvic speed off as fast as he could without drawing unwanted attention as he returned to the Ducal Palace.
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Post by Culmir on Feb 3, 2013 13:51:31 GMT 1
Cam and Clover finished the rest of their breakfast in subdued silence, the collected peacekeepers that had been around to hear Ivans story seemed put down, they glared harshly as more peacekeepers came into the kitchen for breakfast, these peacekeepers chatting merrily to one another, having missed the tale. There was a slight depressed air lingering in the kitchen and Poledra was the first to snap out of it, her spoon soon whirled through the air again as chatter began to pick up between the kitchen staff as well. It would not do well to keep dwelling on the past for too long.
Cam and Clover got up from the bench slowly, having given Ivan enough time to exit the grounds and possibly be already on his way to the mentioned square where they’d meet to begin todays training. Clover handed her brother his katana as she strapped her own kodachi blade onto her back, knowing Ivan he might send peacekeepers out after them to chase them down once discovered and potentially even would stage them being surrounded. Neither twin wanted to go into that scenario unarmed.
The redheaded twins lingered in the courtyard momentarily, not sure what to do as they waited quietly for time to pass. It was Cam who broke the silence “So, that was quite a tale Ivan chose to share” he eyed his sister, wondering how she took it. Clovers forehead frowned slightly, her mouth quirking to the side thoughtfully “I guess he felt like we needed to know why he’s being so tough on us” she paused, squinting up at the sun that was slowly raising in the sky “Probably feels like if he pushes us to the brink and then beyond that, that he’s done everything in his power and knowledge to prepare us for whatever is to come in the future” she shrugged. Cam stared at his sister, he hadn’t even considered that possibility, he marvelled at his sister momentarily, normally she wasn’t the observant one, she was more instinct and gut feelings than assessing details and forming a connection through that. He smiled genuinely at her, tousling her hair playfully, earning him a hateful stare from Clover “knock it off” she said as she slapped his hand aside “we need to go soon” she said as she kicked at a rock, sending it skittering across the courtyard.
Cam turned his attention to the skies like his sister had done before “Yeah, we don’t want to be late like last time” he joked “Llorin knows what our favourite teacher has in store for us if we did” he chuckled. His remark earned him a jab from Clovers elbow into his bruised ribs, a painful jolt crossed his face as Clover eyed him sternly “that’s not funny” she chided, though her lips tugged into a smirk. Together they set off towards the square, making it easily through the ever warming sun, when they reached the square they were surprised not to see Ivan there yet, but for all they knew the old grisly could be hiding.
The spies reporting to him had failed, miserably, it was a clear and short order, follow Rasvin and report about his whereabouts at all time, not even a novice could fail this but somehow one of The masters best assassins and astounding sneak expert had been shaken by Rasvin. The man proved to be more slippery than an eel, this thought was uncomfortable for the master of assassins, what could of been so important for Rasvin to shake his tail, steady reports of the mans comings and goings had been drifting in regularly, as well as from the tails following Isabelle, Kheldar and Marvic, though on this one occassion Rasvin had given his assigned watch the slip. Pacing in his study the master pondered the faith of the young assassin kneeling before him on his Cayldish carpet. Sighing the master sat down behind his desk and wrote his punishment down on a parchment, sealing it with his wax and sigil, though he loathed to punish his pupils he knew it had to be done. He could not afford slackers working for him, the assassin in question was to be lashed across the back no less than 50 times, equalling the minutes that Rasvin had eluded from his attention. Handing the folded paper to the assassin the master gave him a reassuring squeeze, the puishment was one that many assassins had endured many times, and it could of been much, much worse if he chose it. But the truth was this man following Rasvin needed to continue his work, and he would need the use of his limbs. Once the assassin left the master resumed reading through his many reports, though in the back of his head he was wondering what on Esryms and Pugharrs hairy bottom Rasvin was up to.
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Post by xaen on Feb 6, 2013 3:00:25 GMT 1
It had taken Ivan longer to instruct his assistants than he expected, since it took them a while to prepare their mock traps, put padding onto their weapons, and for some to get into character. What a comical nightmare that last part was for Ivan, once he was satisfied with their work he set off for the previously agreed upon meeting place. Remarkably the Rue’s were both present and ready to go, he approached them with an approving smile on his face. “Here put these on your weapons,” He told them as he handed them special padded sheaths that perfectly matched their weapons with strong securing clasps. Ivan waited for them to slid the practice sheaths over their weapons, before explaining their practice ‘mission’, “You have four hours to find and rescue the ‘VIP’ from the grasp of a group of criminals. The only information that I will give you is to look for a man wearing a yellow and blue ascot tied around his left wrist, he will tell you more. Once you complete your mission come find me in the Keep.” Ivan patiently waited for his words to sink in and waited for any questions.
Rasvin Tresme executed Marvic’s commands to the letter without the Master’s tail ever catching up to him. It was most certainly no cake walk for the unscrupulous nobleman, but he had succeeded in hiring a pair of incredibly loyal lowlifes that would take his identity to their graves. He instructed them to hire some other lowlifes to watch for and intercept carrier pigeons bearing messages. Rasvin told them that his spies had informed him that a message was due today. The crooked nobleman silently prayed that his overpriced spies in the ambush squad had not betrayed him. Rasvin needn’t worry though for later that night when he had slipped his new tail to meet up with his minions, they were waiting for him with the message in hand.
“Here is your scroll,” The larger darker haired of the two lowlifes’ told Rasvin triumphantly as he handed the small message to the nobleman. His shorter and nearly toothless companion grinning awkwardly at his side, as Rasvin perused the note. “I lost three of my men, Lord Rasvin. I expect compensation since good help is hard to comeby.”
“Excellent,” Rasvin chuckled as he continued to read, once he finished he continued, “I think this will cover your losses and then some.” The vulture-like nobleman pulled to large sacks full of unmarked gold pieces from within the long leather coat he wore, each the bag the size of a large cabbage. The two dirty and smelly street thugs greedily snatched the proffered payment and then scurried into the shadows. Rasvin waited a moment to be sure they were gone before he snapped his fingers, and out from the shadows emerged the freelance assassin, he had hired an hour prior to this meeting. “Kill them, feel free to take their payment as your bonus,” He told the darkly dressed woman, who nodded obediently before drawing her signature wakizashi and stalking into night after the two street thugs. Watching her leave, Rasvin knew his identity was safe for his assassin would rather die than tell her rival assassins who he was. Satisfied that his loose ends were about to be tied off, Rasvin stowed the scroll into his jerkin and returned home to hide it.
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