opportunities(eridanus)

[Grasis Deviil]

Sunberth
Fall 39th, 512 AV

He sat with his back to the wall of the tavern. He was shirtless at the moment, his gold pendant hanging freely from his neck as he stared out at the crowd. He was growing reckless, he knew that. But he didn't care at the same time. He needed to find out about himself, what was his life like before, where did he come from. He would never find out hiding in the shadows so he didn't. He sat tall, daring those around him to approach him. The silver ribbons hanging around his waist and trailing to his ankles sparkling as he taps a foot impatiently. 'Why is no one coming to me' he thought to himself, 'surely someone wants whats on me, but no ones actually coming over.'

Shaking his head he sighed, reaching up to finger the pendant hanging from his neck. Maybe he looked to tough? No, that couldn't be it he was just a small scrawny teenager. No one in Sunberth would truly be frightened of him, at least without a little subtle nudging. Maybe I need to start a fight. That'd get people interested in me. But, i only have my ribbon blade, that wont save me in a real fight.

With a sigh he would continue to look around, waving a waitress over, "get me whatever you got to drink in here." With a dismissive wave he'd send her off, his eye's scanning the crowd. Over in the corner there was a pair whispering about something. He'd never be able to eavesdrop from this far without being noticed. Maybe someone closer? As his eye's scan the crowd he'd stop on a pair of hulking brutes. 'Those would make a nice fight. Maybe I can convince them to liven things up a bit in here?'

With that he'd squint in concentration as he focuses on one of the two, before he pushes the subtle message into his thoughts, making him see an image of the other, slipping his coin purse into his pocket. Along with that image a flash of anger would follow. Yes, with that he would certainly start a fight. Grasis had learned a couple days ago that idiots don't usually question where there emotions came from.

With that Grasis would sit back in his chair, smiling as he watches the brute he manipulated stand up and throw a punch at his partner. Yes, it had worked as planned. A fight was starting and surely there would be opportunity somewhere in the chaos, he just had to make sure he was the one who profited from it. His eye's scanning the crowds reaction to the fighting, his right hand gripping the pendant on his chest tightly, he sits back and waits.

[Eridanus]

Eridanus sat in a corner of the Pig's Foot Tavern, sipping very slowly from a cup of ale. The story behind that single cup of ale had a backstory on its own, involving dazzling smiles and swooning of barmaids. Well actually, it did not, but it involved stealing one from a nearby table that were full of filled mugs.

A bunch of friends were having some sort of drinking contest, and most of them were too inebriated to realize anyway. That was his method of being able to remain in the tavern without spending money. There was an important reason for that; he did not want to retrieve his gold from his coin pouch for the heaviness of the leather would be a melody to thieves everywhere.

No point in drawing unwanted attention to myself.

Instead, he was merely passing the time for the moment, his ears and eyes open for an opportunity. This was a method of gathering Intelligence that he learned from Zandelia exactly one year ago from here. Blending with the environment, fading into the background, absorbing and reviewing information. It was not about gathering of information that made one a good Intelligencer, it was the ability to process and filter the critical ones.

Somehow or another, a fight was starting and the vantha lazily looked past a shirtless youth to see two hulking brutes engaged in fisticuffs. They were the typical brainless brutes, though he wondered where the stereotypes came from. Most likely from Sunberth, for one would hardly expect to find brainless brutes in Riverfall where everyone were huge and well-defined. Something about being in a warrior society would do that to its citizenry.

"Your tavern might get damaged if you don't kick them out," Eridanus drawled at a nearby barmaid, causing her to look where he was pointing and shaking her head as she went to find her boss to find out the next course of action.

[Grasis Deviil]

This was going perfectly. The fight was under way, no one was paying him any attention, and best of all it looked like things could get even more hectic. With a smile he looked around the room, eye's sparkling as he notes where everyone is looking. Only a very few people are looking at him, most of the room allured by the fight. That man over there though, he had sent a barmaid out to get the owner. That could quiet quickly shut down the fight...he couldn't let that happen. This had to continue, and escalate. There weren't any true opportunities for a fortune to be had yet.

So he pushed himself off the wall and quickly moved through the crowd towards the barmaid that the man had sent off. As he walks along he would quickly pick up a mug of beer off a table that he passes, before he reachs her. This would have to be times right. If he messed up, he could get her killed. Or worse, he could get himself killed. As he catches up to her, he would turn and throw the mug at the two brawlers. as the cup tumbles through the air he would already be turning back to the waitress, and stumbles forward, clutching at her and pushing her at the two brawlers, doing his best to make it seem accidental.

As he lands on the ground, on his hands, well hidden from the brawlers by the patrons all around, he would smirk to himself 'This should make things much more interesting. And while I'm down here, I might as well start looking for purses to snatch.' With that he would start crawling quickly away from where he was, towards a back wall and where there were people that wasn't quiet as excited as those nearer the fight. They would be the ones with money, the ones with something to lose if this erupted into something major.

[Eridanus]

The shirtless man began to move, and his actions were not lost on the vantha's watchful eye. With interest, he noticed how the young man maneuvered and positioned his actions strategically such that the barmaid's path would be disrupted, at the same time sending the terrified girl into the brawl.

There was still some sort of honor in Sunberth, a code amongst criminals or an honor amongst thieves, if you will. Accordingly, there was an unspoken brawling code, and that involved not having staff of the tavern in which the brawl was taking place involved. Especially if said staff was a frail, innocent wench.

Immediately, several other men nearby stood up quickly, rushing forward to pull her out of harm's way as the two giants were too inebriated to tell the difference to aim their punches. One of the thugs got hit while spiriting her to safety, and that caused him to return a punch.

If the man's motive was to keep the fighting going, he just succeeded in adding three more people to the tow as that man's other two friends swooped in to help him kick the giants.

Another skinny sort with his hair slicked back greasily reached forward to catch the barmaid as she fell, but did not let go of her when she struggled, affectionately tracing the back of her neck with a crooked finger.

Eridanus kept an eye on that, though it was likely that she would just slap him and he would let go; he would only intervene at the last moment. As the shirtless man began to look around again, the vantha caught his eye - the perpetrator of all of this.

Giving a wry smirk, Eridanus merely kept eye contact, leaning back with a knowing glance as he watched the incidents unfold.

I know what you did - that was what his self-satisfied smirk and the twinkling glint in his eyes told the man.

[Grasis Deviil]

He was just about to reach up and snatch a purse off of someones waist when this man caught his eye. He seemed to know to much. That smile of his, it wasn't right. It's as if he was bragging. He knew, he knew what Grasis had done. That thought scared Grasis to the core. Would this man out him? He knew that it was Grasis who had started the fight. He might even know how. He had to figure it out, if this man was going to out him he had to run.

But wait, he wasn't displeased. He was smiling, kind of at least. No he wouldn't tell...well maybe this was the opportunity Grasis had been waiting for. With that Grasis pushed himself up, dusting off his hands as he moved closer to the seated man. He couldn't let this opportunity pass, he just couldn't.

As he moved closer he subtly started playing with the ribbons hanging from his pants. Maybe this man would like what he see and give him so money. Maybe he'd be impressed by the seeming wealth of his ribbons and pendant and not want to rat him out, he might even gain an ally through this.

Sitting in a chair next to the main, he would look down, suddenly nervous. He couldn't do this, this man would see through him. It wouldn't work. No he had to get it...just plant a thought, take the money and run. "Um, hello sir." As he says that he would look up and stare at the brawl going on, trying to keep his eye's from drifting to the man next to him.

Starring at the brawl he would reach up and absently play with the pendant around his neck. 'alright, just make him think that he should give me a few coins for the entertainment, yea that sounds right.'

Nodding slightly he would look over to the man he's sitting next to and seem to stare into his eye's for a moment, as he pushes the thought forward. With a heavy sigh as the djed is released, he would slump slightly before straightening, as the thought tries takes form in Eridanus's head 'This kid went through all that work, should give him some coins for the trouble'

[Eridanus]

The shirtless man with the gold pendant seemed to realize the eye contact, even going as far as to remove himself from his previous position and to seat himself next to the scholar. Suspicion began to blossom within the scholar, yet he did not let it show, instead keeping a nonplussed expression as he watched.

Maybe I should give him some gold for the entertainment.

Eridanus blinked.

If I get my coin pouch out I'm going to get robbed.

The vantha's eyes wavered to the fight, before glancing back again at the kid who seemed to be trying to make eye contact with him.

Why do I want to reward him anyway?

That was a strange thought indeed. Eridanus was not one for pointless violence, and even more for rewarding it. Indeed, he had read sociological research on the idea of rewards encouraging behavior. Most likely by Dilgey and Team, if he remembered correctly.

"Little troublemaker, aren't you?" The vantha commented lazily, his eyes swirling into a dark, dark blue glint like the water gracing the deep ocean's floor.

[Grasis Deviil]

He didn't budge. He hadn't even wanted to budge. His eye's were swirling a different color, they were getting darker blue. What was this man? He certainly wasn't like others, he actually thought through the hypnosis. Grasis had to stiffle a sigh, he had hoped this would be an easy in and out. But it looked like he'd have to play this if he wanted some coins.

Little troublemaker? Was he? If he said yes, would the man be more willing to pay? Should he pretend not to know whats going on. This was so difficult. Why couldn't things be easy, just this once. It's not like he wanted to be doing this, he just wanted to survive.

"Do you like the show? I can change the pace if you like." He would say, his eye's glancing back to the fight going on, his shoulders going rigid as he anxiously waits for the reply. His fingers clutching even tighter at his pendant, knuckles going white. This wasn't just a mark. If this man knew how he started the fight, he would have to get on this mans good graces to stay alive. But he couldn't let the worry show, if he did the game was up. So with a struggle he kept his eyes on the fight, shaking visibly as he struggles not to turn back to the man next to him.

[Eridanus]

"Change the show?" Eridanus muttered distractedly as he watched the potential rape scene. Fortunately, the barmaid had slapped the man and was already heading back to warn her boss of the new brawl. Though, judging from the noise that they were making it would not take long for the owner of the tavern to realize what was happening.

"I saw what you did, boy," Eridanus warned. Somehow, that kid had some twisted logic that he was actually being entertained by such mindless nonsense. "Why did you do it?"