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Post by ivory on Aug 25, 2009 15:49:30 GMT -5
"We may have trouble coming. Looks like a city guard - sort of."
Adrian's mind was a little muddled and he had some trouble tyring to figure out the meaning behind the words. Having not drunk much before, the single mug wasn't settling well in his system. He didn't think he was drunk, he just had a little trouble concentrating. He squinted a little at Henry before turning his attention back to his mug and frowning when he noticed it was empty. He peered around the table suspiciously as if thinking they'd stolen it from him.
"Adrian, slide down there and lean against the bar down there by the front door and pretend you don't know us."
"Mmm?" He blinked a few times before her words registered and he slid out of his chair to make his way to the front door and immediately signaled for another drink.
The barmaid was a little distracted and he was not drunk, thus both accidentally forgot to have him pay. He downed it half-way before noticing the commotion and turned slowly to see - who was that? Oh, right, Sir Katrina...He grinned at his remembrance and decided to celebrate it by downing the rest of his mug's contents. He began to get just a little tipsy.
"That's far enough!"
That coming from Shenry. He was friends with Shenry wasn't he? He was. He grinned and took another swallow but found it empty. He frowned and raised it for the barmaid to refill. She kind of seemed as if she'd rather work to calm her nerves and seeing as how she was at their backs and they woudln't see her, she refilled his mug, again forgetting to ask for pay.
Adrian had just downed that one when the man beside Kir Satrina drew his stick too. It was shiny like the others. He grinned foolishy before remembering that he had one too. So he stood awkwardly and tried to pull it out before loosing his balance and crashing backwards into the chair. It toppled over and he lay sprawled on the floor, his sword loose in his hand. He began to laugh.
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Post by Brandwyn on Sept 9, 2009 13:19:11 GMT -5
Katrina barely glanced at Adrian after he crashed to the floor. She kept her attention on the head of the guard who shot an irritated look to their new friend and then swiftly glanced back to Katrina. He motioned for his men to back off and they all relaxed a little.
"Now," Katrina eased up on her sword a bit and let him stand mostly upright. "I am Sir Katrina de Montgomery, on a scouting mission for the General of the Araluen Army. We were told this city was taken over by Aslavian mercenaries. Is that true?"
The man squirmed and shook his head, "no! No! we ran them off! I am a liutenant of the La Rivage Guard and My Lord is still in control of the city."
"Yeah, thanks to those of us in the merchant guild, not you castle rats that hid up there and let us do all your fighting for you." One of the lieutenant's men glared at him. He had lowered his weapon before the others and was standing close to the door. Katrina wasn't sure if it was to prevent them from getting out, or to give him the best opportunity to get away.
"The merchant's guild?" Katrina said increduously? "Did I hear you right? The Merchant's guild is actually in control?" She skewered the man with her gaze, pinning him to the floor by her the power of her gaze alone.
"Well, yeah, mostly I suppose." The man didn't seem quite so confident. "The Lord is back up there in his castle, giving out orders, but only the nobles are listening to him. Everyone else is following the Merchant guild leader and his executives, like the owner of the Red Feather Inn. They are the ones really in charge."
Katrina studied the man for a moment and didn't see any indication he was lying, as incredible as it sounded to her that merchants would have taken up arms. There was definately an interesting story here. She turned back to the lieutenant, "I think I need to speak with your Lord. You will take us to him." She abruptly sat the lieutentant back on his feet and then pulled his sword in the same motion. "But I think we will hold onto these until we get there." She nodded to Shamus and Henry who divested the others of their weapons. "Just to make sure you don't try anything foolish." She winked at the lieutentant who scowled at her.
Then she turned back to Adrian, wondering what to do with him. "Shamus, can you help him get on his feet? Maybe one of these fine gentleman would lend a hand too." She motioned to one of the lieutentant's men to help with Adrian. She should have known the boy couldn't hold his liquor. "Bring him along." She motioned for the lieutentant to lead the way, then remembered their aquaintance in the bar.
"You know, we could use good fighting men. Decent pay, 3 square meals a day and your own one man tent if you are interested in signing on as a merc." She said. "If so, come along."
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Post by JezusBagels on Sept 10, 2009 16:50:17 GMT -5
Tolsk listened, heavily intrigued. He sheathed his sword and grinned. "You had me at 'pay.'" It had been awhile since he'd worked with other people. This sounded promising. He grabbed his mug from the table and savored one last swig of the precious ale.
"So," he asked, "Where are we headed?"
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Post by Brandwyn on Sept 11, 2009 19:08:05 GMT -5
"To the castle on the hill, I presume, where the Lord of the City resides?" Katrina asked the Lieutenant, who nodded at her and led the way, eyeing his sword that she carried easily in her hand. Her own sword back in its sheath again.
They wound their way through the rather empty streets and up to the castle near the center of the city. The Lieutenant got them in through the gates and into the keep where he sent a servant to inform the Lord that he had an emmisary of the Araluen Army on his doorstep.
Katrina stood calmly in the middle of the plushly furnished room they had been escorted to. She watched the Lieutenant and his men instead of taking in any of the details around her.
Henry grabbed a handful of grapes that were resting on a tray and sat down on one of the plush chairs, seemingly oblivious to the men, but secretly keeping an eye on them should there be any problem.
Shamus helped Adrian to another plush chair and took the man's sword from him before he injured himself or anyone else with it. He dug through his pouch and finally produced a wad of some foul smelling herb. "skunkweed" He grinned at Henry who smiled back as he caught a small whiff of the stuff and covered his nose with one hand.
Shamus waved the skunkweed under Adrian's nose, knowing it would help sober him up quicker.
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Post by JezusBagels on Sept 11, 2009 21:31:44 GMT -5
Tolsk burped. "Nice place," he said quietly. He remembered dreaming of places like this as a child in Arrida. He'd only been in rooms furnished such as this a couple times in his life, even after his escape. He wasn't always a welcome guest either... Was he one now? He supposed not. The thought occurred to him that he'd been hired to kill in a bar and then immediately brought here. Was this going to end violently? He kept one hand on the hilt of his sword, just in case.
He paced, deciding it would be best to stand. He was sobering up a bit. The soldiers looked nervous. The men sitting seemed calm and the woman... He couldn't guess what might have been going on in her head. That had always been a problem of Tolsk's. He was horrible at dealing with women... Unless they acted like men. Some did.
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Post by Brandwyn on Sept 15, 2009 11:01:26 GMT -5
Katrina waited patiently, at least to all outward appearances anyway. But as the minutes ticked on, she had all she could do to just stand still in the middle of the room with her hands at her sides.
The minutes dragged to half an hour and she saw nearly everyone fidgeting and growing bored. The room was getting stuffy. The lieutenant got up and Katrina watched him pace for a bit and then he abruptly grabbed the door to the room and yanked it open - just as a servant went to rap on the door.
"Well?" the lieutentant asked rudely and Katrina scowled at him, the only expression she had made in the last half hour. She had been standing so still, in fact, that Henry was beginning to wonder if she was a statue. Katrina rarely put up with snobby rich people who were rude or abusive to their servants. She was likeing this Lieutenant even less, if that were possible.
"Sorry, My Lord, but His Honor is ready to see your guests now." The girl stammered and curtseyed to him, but she had seen Katrina standing there in full armor and couldn't help but stare.
Katrina smiled at her as she strode to the door. "Thanks, milady." She said politely, literally pushing the lieutenant out of the way. "Would you be so kind as to show us the way?" She wasn't going to give the lieutenant a chance to make the Lord think she was his prisoner or here for any other reason except under her own terms.
The lietenant glared at her and reached for his sword, only to remember that she held it in her hand. Henry smiled as he watched the man flush and take a step back. Then Henry gestured for the other members of the "guard" to follow Katrina and the Lieutenant. He glanced back at Shamus and Adrian. He wasn't so sure the guy was in any shape to go see a "Lord" yet, but he figured they probably should stick together.
"Hey Adrian, you coming along?" Henry asked him. "We are going to go talk to the Lord of La Rivage! Not every day you get to do that!" Henry grinned and glanced at Shamus and Tolsk to make sure they could handle Adrian if he tried to do something silly.
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Post by ivory on Sept 16, 2009 11:44:07 GMT -5
Adrian came to with a startle, gagging on the horrid smell placed beneath his nose. He managed a half-glare at one of the men beside him and a tug on his memory made him think that he knew this guy....And then it slowly came back to him, along with a giant headache that wasn't there before. Had they been attacked? Defeated? Was the war over? Where was he?
He tried to ask all of these questions at once, still too lost to even realize what he was saying, "HadeatedewarI? Andwhysmyeadveelweird?" he added as he raised a hand to his head.
Not waiting for an answer, he struggled to his feet and peered around the room. Ooh, they were captives. He reached for his sword at his waist only to find it gone and startled, he looked down in shock. "Vereddesword!?"
His tongue felt thick in his mouth, but before he could carry on with his exclamations, his head reeled and he fell against the wall with a groan. Never again. Never ever ever going to drink again...though it had tasted extremely well...No! Never ever ever again!
Finally getting himself half-way under control he turned to Henry only to find him gone. And then a voice called out to him, "Hey Adrian, you coming along? We are going to go talk to the Lord of La Rivage! Not every day you get to do that!"
A stupid smile came over his face. "JaI'mcoming." His speech was getting better, he just had to stave off the rest of the fog in his brain so he could concentrate...
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Post by JezusBagels on Sept 16, 2009 14:12:24 GMT -5
Tolsk erupted into laughter as he watched Adrian stumble and yell in what seemed to be total gibberish. It may not have been his first language, but he knew when someone wasn't making sense and found great amusement. He practically fell over, his laughter was so intense. Then he noticed the odd looks he was getting from some other people in the room and calmed down as quickly as he could, though a repressive grin stayed tight on his face.
"Sorry 'bout that. Shall we?"
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Post by Brandwyn on Sept 24, 2009 16:37:48 GMT -5
Katrina merely raised an eyebrow at her rather inebriated companions and then followed the servant out the door, giving Shamus and Henry a look to keep their eye on the other men in the guard, and Adrian.
When they were ushered into the Lord’s public living room, Katrina quickly took stock of the Lord and decided immediately that she didn’t like him. He was a sniveling little man, munching on a very decadent feast that appeared to be reserved entirely for him, even though several courtiers were standing or sitting around the room. No one but the Lord was touching the food or drink.
The Servant announced the Lieutenant and that he had brought visitors from the Araluen Army and then exited the room hastily, as if she couldn’t get away fast enough. The lieutenant stopped in the middle of the room and assumed a parade rest position and waited for the Lord to address him.
Katrina started to follow him, but hung back a bit. The Lord hadn’t even looked up when they had entered. He was intent on corrupting a pretty, young, very young girl who looked too terrified to even breathe. Katrina’s eyes narrowed in anger at the Lord, but otherwise she showed no outward sign of her irritation.
She had been raised the daughter of a ranking nobleman and was no stranger to the ways of court life. She recognized the Lord’s type as the same kind of man her mother had been trying to marry her off to for the last several years. The kind of man she despised.
She decided to take the initiative and pushed past the Lieutenant and right up to the table of food. With one hand she poured herself a goblet of wine and with the other scooped up a meat and mushroom pastry and took a big bite, chewed and swallowed, with her eyes closed, savoring the tasty meat pie. The she took a long pull from the goblet and licked her lips.
“That is outstanding pastry! My compliments to your cook.” She bowed to the Lord and then looked around for an empty chair. There was a large, cushioned chair at the end of the table opposite the Lord and she strode over and sat down and put her feet up on the table and crossed them at the ankles, taking another bite of the meat pie.
She ignored the stares of everyone in the room, especially those of the Lord of La Rivage who was sputtering incoherently, his face turning brighter shades of red and into purple. Finally he managed to spit out, “Who – what do you think - Who the hell are you?”
Katrina looked up from examining the meat pie at him, “What?” She stopped munching and looked around the room as if just realizing where she was. “Oh. Right. Manners…” she said absentmindedly. She stood up, carefully placing the last bite of pie on the table right next to her goblet of wine and gave the Lord a deep bow. “Lady, Sir Katrina de Montgomery of Norgate Fief, Daughter of Duke David de Montgomery and temporary emissary for the Royal Araluen Army under the command of Sir Horace of the Oakleaf, who is currently camped with a few thousand men just north of your city.”
She sat back down before the Lord could say anything and grabbed some more food, putting her feet back up on the table.
“You- you- you are a Duke’s Daughter?” The Lord asked incredulously, amazed at her audacity to just sit down at his table and help herself even though she outranked him by quite a way- if what she said was true.
He wasn’t sure what to believe, “and a knight? Women can’t be knights!” He had stood up and dumped the girl on his lap onto the floor. Katrina noted that she scurried away and was out of the room before the Lord even knew she had moved.
Katrina rolled her eyes at him and motioned to Henry who approached and handed the Lord a sealed parchment. Henry stepped back, grinning openly at Katrina and they waited while the man read the missive from King Duncan.
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Post by JezusBagels on Oct 9, 2009 22:28:10 GMT -5
Tolsk crossed his arms in satisfaction. He loved seeing important folk shiver in their boots like that. It just made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Or maybe that was the ale? Nope, definitely the boots. He smirked and looked at Katrina, who seemed, to all the world, a visage of confidence and strength. The two of them were going to get along just fine.
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Post by Brandwyn on Oct 10, 2009 14:38:29 GMT -5
Katrina gave the Lord a few minutes to read the missive. While they were waiting she tossed Henry a boiled egg that had been rolled in a breaded sausage batter and then baked. Henry stepped up to the table and poured a goblet of wine and handed it to Tolsk. Then he got one for Shamus. He looked at Adrian and poured him some coffee, ignoring the gasps around the room from the onlookers.
“No more liquor for you, my boy!” Henry said to Adrian. “Here, you better eat some of this bread here too, with that slice of ham.” Maybe the food and coffee would help sober the kid up.
“Thanks for the food, Your Lordship,” Katrina said, helping herself to a dainty custard crepe. “We’ve had nothing but ship’s food for over a week. Though we had a decent cook, it was a far cry from court food.” Katrina winked at Henry, “we must talk to this cook of his. Perhaps we can steal him away from all this and get him to move to Norgate!” Henry and Shamus laughed and helped themselves to some food, finding places to sit around the room.
The Lord finished reading the message from King Duncan and looked around the room, noticing some smirks on some of the faces of the nobles that were quickly erased as their Lord’s eyes fell on them. Then he fixed Katrina with a hard glare, trying to save some face.
“According to this, your King intends to occupy my city. This is a direct violation of our treaty.” The Lord sat up straight on his throne, trying to assert his authority. “Your men will not set foot inside La Rivage or there will be war.”
Katrina stopped in mid swallow and looked at him in amazement. The man was truly an idiot. She finished her pastry and slowly licked the custard off each finger, staring at the Lord the entire time, taking a moment to formulate a response. Then she stood up and walked over to tower in front of him, her arms crossed, she cupped her right elbow in her left hand and then stroked her chin with her right hand.
“First of all, you are in no position to make any kind of demands. As I hear it, if not for the Merchant’s guild and some mysterious helpers of theirs, you would be in the hands of the Mercenary group called The Grizzlies right now.” Katrina glanced around the room, taking in the faces of all those present and filing them away for later in case she needed to remember them.
“Secondly, Sir Horace has over a thousand men with the rest of the Araluen army arriving just a few days behind us. And you have how many men you command in your city just now? A dozen? Maybe twice that?” She snorted. “If we want to control this city, all we have to do is take it.”
She suddenly drew her sword and placed the tip at his throat. “Hell! For that matter, I could just kill you right now and be done with it.” The Lord gasped in fear, his eyes wide and stared at the sword blade in disbelief. Now that she really had his attention, and his respect, she sheathed her sword and stepped back. “But that is not why we are here, you fool.”
“We are here to honor the treaty your King made with our King all those years ago for requesting aid should an Eastern power threaten either of our countries.” Katrina informed him. “Not to invade your city. However, since we can’t have this port falling into Aslavian hands, I am going to station 300 men here to defend the city and restore order. They will have orders to maintain order and not interfere in the daily operations of the city in addition to defending it should the Aslavians try to take the port.” She leaned in close to him, “and just so you don’t get any ideas, they are under my command, not yours. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you hightail it to your King and take the matter up with him. Maybe you will make it past all those Grizzlies and Aslavians out there if you hurry.”
She didn’t wait for an answer, already tired of the tedious fool. “Come on men, we have a war to get to.” She said to Henry, Shamus, Adrian and Tolsk and exited the room, ignoring the indignant sputtering of the Lord.
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Post by ivory on Oct 11, 2009 15:45:22 GMT -5
Adrian accepted the drink, believing it to be more of that delicious something, then frowned when he sipped it and found it to be coffee. He didn't bother hiding his disappointment from Henry and would've walked to the table to get his own if he wasn't afraid of falling on his arse in the proccess. His mind had cleared a little, though he was far from being able to control his motor skills...
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Post by JezusBagels on Oct 11, 2009 16:34:57 GMT -5
“Come on men, we have a war to get to.”
Tolsk laughed loudly as he followed behind Katrina. "Aye, aye, capn'," he said with a little mock salute. He jogged a bit to catch up to her and asked, "So, what kind of war are we talkin' about, here?" Tolsk had been pleasantly ignorant of current events for quite awhile and the realization that he would have to start paying attention wasn't a happy one.
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Post by ivory on Oct 11, 2009 16:54:18 GMT -5
Adrian didn't even bother finishing his drink before making his way out the door like everyone else, albiet with a little help, but making it nevertheless. Man, he was really messed up. He started to laugh and then quickly quieted himself, then started laughing again. Man, but was that drink good and he didn't mean the coffee.
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Post by Brandwyn on Oct 12, 2009 14:08:27 GMT -5
On the way back to their camp, Katrina explained the situation to Tolsk. "So basically the Aslavians are trying to take control of the whole continent from what we have heard and are crushing anyone who stands in their way."
She glanced at Adrian as they walked, noting that he was still swaying on his feet and Shamus was keeping him upright by a tug here and a push there.
"Anyway, Araluen and the Scotti have come over here to fight alongside what is left of the Toscano and Gallican armies. We are hoping to defeat them here and send them back east where they came from." Katrina summed it up for Tolsk. "If we don't pull together to stop them, they will conquer all of us. Personally I wouldn't take well to being in some Aslavian warlord's harem." Katrina winked at Tolsk.
Then she turned her attention to Adrian, "Adrian, my inhebriated friend, I think we are going to have to teach you how to hold your liquor. Until then, you are to stay away from it." Katrina eyed him dubiously. "You are too much a danger to yourself and others"
Suddenly there was the clatter of horse hooves on the cobblestone streets ahead of them. Twenty men on horseback, wearing the livery of the Lord of La Rivage blocked their path. As Katrina held up her hand for her team to stop, five more riders clattered in behind them, cutting them off.
Katrina shook her head and sighed. "Some people just don't know when to leave well enough alone." she muttered to Tolsk.
"By order of the Lord of La Rivage, you are hereby arrested for violating treaty 2479 and shall now be detained under the laws of Gallica and La Rivage." The Captain of the Guard sounded bored as he recited the arrest order. "You are ordered to surrender your weapons and come quietly."
Katrina slowly drew her sword out, as if she were going to give it up. Then she winked at Tolsk and nodded to Henry. "Of course, Captain. Why don't you come collect them?" She held her sword out by her thumb and forefinger at arm's length, waiting for him to approach.
The Captain stayed mounted and motioned for his men to disarm them. Half the men dismounted and approached their 'prisoners', reaching for their weapons.
As one of the men got closer to Katrina, she pulled her arm back in, making him move closer to grab it. As he reached for it, she suddenly reversed it and in one swift arc, lobbed off the man's head. "Sorry about that." she said, looking at the Captain. "but we have no intention of coming quietly." She charged at the captain, cutting down the men who tried to stop her.
Henry drew his sword and jumped forward, engaging three men at once. "Shamus, stay with Adrian!" He shouted over the fighting. "And give him his sword back."
"Adrian, catch!" Shamus tossed Adrian's sword to him, making sure if Adrian missed, the sword would land point first in the dirt next to Adrian. Then he drew his own sword and yelled a Scotti battle cry as he leapt up into the air and came down with a formidable slice on one of the guard's shoulders, nearly cutting the man's arm off.
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