Bree smiles, her white teeth looking somehow aggressive in the moonlight. "I only said that he expected me to be alone, not that I intended to go alone. There are at least a dozen Riddleport denizens that I could round up to have my back, us Riddleport denizens tend to stick together."
Looking Winter in the eye, she slowly raises the hem of her shirt several inches, revealing many scars to the night air. For a moment, there is the distinct glint of insanity in her eyes, as her smile broadens before she lowers the shirt back down.
"Sure, that sounds like it could be his intent. He wouldn't be the first to try, and it's likely he wouldn't be the last I'd have to kill for trying either. It could just as easily be your intent to reap the harvest of seeds you did not sow, and out of harvest time at that, is it not, fair Winter?" She glances to Sable and then back to Winter before finishing in Elven, "The owl is wise, but this peacock struts his feathers."
Winter eyes off the scars, his eyebrow raises marginally...
Elven-"With that many friendly warnings I'd implore you to heed their advice and head for better company or a different vocation"
"Let me continue to be frank then. You may indeed bring friends along for additional protection, and perchance your fellow sees the boon in honouring your arrangement and pays you your sum in full then for a mere one hundred and fifty pieces of gold, which you would then have to split a significant portion of with your fellows, you would cause emnity with a group of rogues who include a Sorceror no less, and who were capable of staging an frontal armed robbry against a well guarded Casino. If your man chose not to pay up on a fortuitous run then you'd have caused the trouble with said knaves for the princely sum of fifty gold and likely got yourself or your accomplices killed in the bargain"
"The way I measure its worth, I think you have been shorted."
"Now as to my intent, well, thats simple - I am curious to find the man who is responsible for ordering an action that lead to a fruitless assault and a number of deaths this evening, and seek to expose him to the full measure of the rule of Law"
"If you are half the Bounty Hunter you claim to be then you'd be good at reading people, and if you are good at reading people then you would ken my words as true"
"I am Sebastian DeGray, scholar of little renown and thespian of even less fame, kept from my studies by the nefarious dealings of your Riddleport denizens. Reduced to interrogating wharf rats to fend off being reduced to a state that sees me eating them."
"To the situation at hand, I calculate acquiescence as the prime path forward from this stalemate, as I foretell checkmate in two moves. You see, there is no chest.." He gives the sack Kaylen carries a derisive slap "...another misconception...so no reward awaits you from your employer...but...a reward can await you from our employer. So before you lies the disappointment and probable anger of a criminal with no possibility of reward or turning the board and playing out the last few moves as white as we close in on the black king."
In Elven to Winter, “The life of a bounty hunter is often dangerous, and often quite short. Some jobs pay well, others not. Sure, I could go hire some local thugs, many of them would even do it for nothing, just because they think it sport… I am quite sure we could sit and bicker all night about what you perceive to be my stupidity, but pardon me, fair Winter, I do believe we all have better things to do and your personal opinion of me is not at the top of my list of concerns. I believe you intend to do what you think is the right thing to do, you lot don’t much look to be town guards though, so is it for love of law or love of coin that you are out here tonight passing judgment on others?”
In common to the group, “Of course, I think it would be much more lucrative for all of us if we worked together. I get my pay, you get the man you’re after. What do you say?”
She listens to Sebastian, a faint smile playing the corners of her mouth. "I don't know much about chess, I didn't get the opportunity to play it often growing up on the streets of Riddleport. Never did get the chance to see many plays either. Forgive me for being presumptive, but I didn't expect that you actually had the chest on you, carrying it around in a sac while disguised as known robbers. I may not be as cultured as you lot, but I'm not without a brain of my own. Am I to guess that you've been hired by The Golden Goblin to find those responsible for tonight's losses?"
After Sable asks of her skills, she purses her lips in contemplation for a moment, Bree shrugs her shoulders and replies, "I've never really given it much thought, I guess it depends on what you would consider a to be a skill you need to be aware of."
|
To Bree, "Meaning if I turn my crest away from you, need I worry about suddenly being electrocuted or set ablaze? Is there a power answering your prayers that might bring down their wrath from the heavens to deter my flight if I cross you? You know, those type of skills." Sable grins despite the cold.
She slowly shakes her head, that uncomfortable smile returning to her face, her eyes looking a bit distant. Bree seems to withdraw back inside herself and her voice takes on the faintest hint of bitterness. "No, no magical bone in my body, not that I've found anyway and no god hears my prayers. Sometimes, if there is a spell set in something, I can activate it but that's not hard for anyone to figure out if they try. I never strike without cause, and it takes a pretty big cause for me to strike. Unless you suddenly deemed me to be your enemy and attacked me first, you have no need to fear me. Even when collecting a bounty, I bring them in alive whenever possible."
Bree's eyes begin searching the faces of Captain Creesy's crew, as if seeking the answer to a question she didn't speak. What's more, she doesn't even seem to be aware that she's doing it.
I never strike without cause, and it takes a pretty big cause for me to strike."
"The noble cause of fifty bits of gold apparently, I don't for a moment suspect that those being sought by Bounty Hunters have a natural want to go willingly and without fight on any but the most rare of occasions..."
"You asked who we were, you wished to hear of our intent, you wished to hear of our motives and you have been furnished with all three... Indeed our purpose and that of the 'Goblin are one. It seems that both you and us have the same goals, so yes we should be united in achieving them. A problem shared is a problem halved after all"
"200 it was, and it was to retrieve a chest. Most people who warrant a bounty, warrant begin restrained with force, and they also warrant much more than 50 gold pieces. The way I see it now, I've been paid 50 already to do nothing more than to listen to you talk. Sounds like pretty decent pay to me, and I haven't attacked anyone here. You really shouldn't be so quick to judge people, fair Winter."
"You'll find I'm extremely quick to judge those who creep up on me armed, and cloaked in the darkness of night, especially when thats what I expect my adversaries to be doing, you appear to forget who met whom and under what circumstances."
"We shall see how your deeds measure against your words"
With that, he returns his gaze to the Captain.
"Name's Kaylen. The bit with the bird-talk seems to be a thing with him, but it keeps things interesting. As far as what happened, the big secret is they made their attempt and we stopped them. The majority of them are not in any condition to cause problems anymore, but we do have one left. The chest is safe where it belongs, so we set out to find the people who ordered the hit. Still, if you weren't planning on going back to this Fenn without back-up, perhaps we should be that back-up. We're already here, and we seem to be after the same thing for now."
Creesy follows the exchange of banter and somewhere along the way hides his metal tube away.
"It seems I may have judged too quickly, but this is Riddleport after all." Turning to face his shop, he calls for a man to bring a bottle of wine. When it arrives he passes it to Sebastian.
"Let it be known that there is one captain who isn't out to slit the throats of anyone within a cannon's sights."
He smiles and laughs, finding a flask in a pocket, sipping at it. "Truth be told, I'm leaving in the morning and the harbor master would just as soon relieve me of that bottle. Highly illegal," he says, lowering his voice and looking down the docks. "From the darklands."
Sebastian will take a look at the bottle.
"Hmm, Can't say I have much experience with this vintage. The stuff I drank in school was a bit cruder and of the bathtub variety."
Winter looks past the wine, clearly not even considering it.
"Well Captain, you'd be a rare treasure in these parts, its a shame that not all of your sea brothers are so civic minded. take comfort knowing those who had designs on your cargo are no longer in that business"
"A fair judgment of the city, Captain. Things aren't always safe here. Is that bottle from any particular place in the Darklands, or just The Darklands? How's it taste?" Regardless of response as to the quality of the beverage, Kaylen will take a brief pull from the bottle.
Creesy watches Kaylen take a drink, "Not sure really. Paid a hefty sum for it, and figured if you all got rid of those rogues, this is the least I could do."
Sweeney gingerly takes the bottle from Kaylen. "Well met, Captain Creesy. Your generosity is well-appreciated." Sniffing the wine, he cocks an eyebrow and a sideways grin. "Not what I'd expected, but still smells much better than the watered-down tavern swill I'm used to." he says as he throws back a swig from the bottle.
Kaylen coughs a bit after her pull from the bottle, then passes it to Sweeney. "The stuff may smell good, but it has a powerful bite. You ought to be careful with that stuff, Captain."
"Consider it a gift from an old sea dog." he says, smiling widely at Kaylen, trying to stifle a chuckle. "I wouldn't touch it myself."
Stepping away, he turns back to his ship, and starts back, waving to the party. "It's off to Magnimar with the morning sun. Good luck finding your rogue," and pauses, turning slightly to look back at the group. "I'll send a boat just off shore in the mornin' in case ya need backup," he offers.
"Where should I send it?"
Sweeney tries hard to choke back his sputtering, but it becomes nonetheless noticeable and he forcefully gurgles down the wine. "Quite right, Kaylen. This stuff's got teeth, whatever it is."
"I can see why. Please, excuse me." With that, Kaylen rushes to the side of the wharf behind a stack of crates, and in short order sounds of somebody being violently ill float out on the evening breeze. Shortly thereafter, Kaylen comes back. "Reminds me of what they gave us back at the Academy in our first year. Couldn't keep that stuff down, either."
"If its from the Darklands, I don't think that they are using berries....actually it is probably best not to think on it..." as he watches Kaylen contribute to the foul harbor.
Needless, he will pass on sampling the beverage.
"Thank you Captain, your most generous offer is well recieved. Bree is the person best able to tell of the correct rendezvous, she has directions to this man she is supposed to meet"
Bree eyes the bottle that's passed around warily, before her eyes resume searching the faces of the crew. When Winter says her name, her eyes snap back to his face. A look of confusion is apparent on her features for a moment while she brings herself back to the here and now.
"Oh, ah, yeah. Marcus told me to meet him at the river's edge near St. Casperian's Mission. It's a church to Sarenrae in the northern section of Riddleport. I'm suppose to meet him there with the chest at dawn."
"Yeah, yeah, North. That's right."
Bree pulls her cloak around herself and tucks her chin in to her chest, twirling her braid with one hand and rubbing her arm in a soothing manner with the other.
Wiping her mouth, "I can hold my liquor just fine. I just wasn't expecting to drink vinegar. Give me another pull at that stuff. I need something to rinse out the bile."
Creesy nods to the group, then makes his way back to the ship, climbing a rope rather than asking for the boarding plank. With a few deft moves, he's at the railing, and disappears into the dark.
After a few moments, the wind kicks up again, the moon shrouded in clouds, pitching the docks into darkness once more. Only the dim light from lanterns scattered along the waterfront break the monotony of the night.
Bree watches as Captain Creesy disappears onto his ship, her eyes water momentarily but she blinks the tears away. Don't cry you fool . She pulls over her face a stern expression before looking back to her strange new companions.
"So what now? It's quite awhile before dawn."
"Yeah, there is an inn a couple of blocks that way. We use it when on the job a lot. We have a thing worked out with the owner. We can go there to talk and get a warm meal.
Bree nods her head towards the street she came down while following the group.
"Or... there are a few squats that are closer to St. Casperian's Mission. We could walk to them now and rest up a bit before the meeting, but it won't have the comforts of an inn, and there may already be some people there."
"The Inn sounds more advnatageous, we shall move to there"
Since Winter appears to be the groups leader, when he says that they will go to the inn, Bree doesn't wait for the input of the others before turning and walking back down the road she arrived on. She walks with her head down, watching her feet as she moves to the shadows out of habit.
"Come to think of it, none of us have had the pleasure of a warm meal or a warm body since entering the tournament. I know I could spend some quality time with both. To the inn with us, then."
"Yes, I could do with a meal too I agree, not too worried about having a warmer body though as I don't generally feel the cold - would you like to borrow my cloak?"
His face appears to be very earnest.
Sweeney studies Winter for a brief moment, not necesarily taken aback by his kindness, but not altogether expecting it, almost unsure if he will allow himself to let down his guard. "...Thank you," he says sincerely, as he takes Winter's cloak and wraps it around himself.
Kaylen chuckles. "I suspect that isn't quite what our friend meant, Winter, but a warm meal and a better brew to wash that taste away would do quite nicely." Pulling the hat lower over her face, Kaylen will jog a bit to walk with Bree. "So, who's this we you mentioned? Fellow bounty hunter friends of yours, or are you a member of a guild?"
When Kaylen makes an effort to stay in step with Bree, and to converse. Bree makes an attempt to walk normally and be social as well, she seems uncomfortable with the social graces, like someone who is long out of the practice.
"Ah, no, not in a guild. I just meant Jefferson, he's the one that got me into this business." Bree tries to offer a smile. "I was a little down on my luck when I met Jefferson. I saw a bounty posted in a tavern... he was the one they wanted. I saw him, I had nothing to loose, I went after him." Bree shrugs one shoulder as if this all should make perfect sense to anyone. "The thing is though, it wasn't a real bounty, Jefferson and his crew put that their themselves sort of as a recruiting device. Those who were able to get close enough to him, were in turn offered a job."
After a moment of silence where Bree looks back at the group behind her and then into the darkness around her in several directions, Bree begins to speak again.
"So, ah, what about you? What led you to be here this night parading around in an eye patch?"
Seemingly unconcerned with the night life, Kaylen answers, "On hiatus from the Guard Academy at Korvosa. I wasn't exactly honest about what I am, and they didn't take kindly to the lie, so I'm to come back in a few years to hear if I'm allowed to continue. Worked my way up here in various mercenary positions, and I was looking for a job when some folks tried to knock over the place I was at. I helped to take 'em down, and the boss of the place hired us. We decided to try and find who sent the folks to knock the place over to make sure it didn't happen again. The eye patch was mostly a bit of tomfoolery to try and trick whoever paid its previous owner."
Noticing Bree's wariness, Kaylen also takes a surreptitious look around, then ask, "Know any places in the area we can sell some gear? We took a bit off what was left of the thieves that we don't need."
Noticing Bree's wariness, Kaylen also takes a surreptitious look around, then ask, "Know any places in the area we can sell some gear? We took a bit off what was left of the thieves that we don't need."
"Sorry, fencing really isn't my thing... but there is sure to be a few people at the inn who could tell you."
"It's been my experience that most people don't take kindly to being lied too." Bree pauses a moment, as if considering her words before speaking them. "I'm sure though, that if you were good at what you did, and you show them that you will work hard to have your position back, they will forgive the lie and take you back. It will be mutually beneficial if they do."
"Perhaps they will. I know I can be what they need me to be. I'm strong enough, and fast enough. Perhaps getting good, honest work in a guard position will show them that I can be worthy of their forgiveness."
"I'm sure that a witness to your character would go a long way to your application, especially a warm report from a Cleric of Erastil. I shall watch your deeds closely, so that I may offer what warmth they gave me"
Bree continues to look over her shoulder at the others, and then around the streets every so often. She seems intrigued by the crow perched upon Sable's staff, but says nothing to acknowledge its presence. She stops in front of a building, "Here we are." Bree pulls the door open and steps in, stopping just inside the door, her eyes scan the room.
Stepping inside just behind Bree, Kaylen blinks a bit as her eyes adjust to the new light level.
"Not much of a place, is it?"