[Castle Commons] Back to the grindstone

by **Fallon** on May 10th, 2014, 3:16 pm

21st Spring 514 AV

Picking up a stone, Fallon turned it over in her hand, the other having tightly wrapped itself around some sheets removed from her book. A hurried mess of black writing across the pale, a messy script written by a half awake mind.

So, back to the grindstone.

Steel clinked, the faint clunk of wood and metal striking the air. It was in the cool dawn of Spring that Fallon Skylar was once again on the prowl. Of course it was different this time, far from the rumour spreading and analysis of work but into something much more vital and important this time. The hunting of work. Last season was a tight one for her, cold and hard going. So, she vowed for this season to make the best of it. She had more days behind her this time - and thus it was up to her to exploit them. Or at least as best as she possibly could outside of trying to manage this forming group.

Turning the cold stone in her hand she pushed the nail into the wood, the hanging sheet of parchment with a scrawled string of writing left upon it. She pulled the hand back, the stone cracking against the nail as she drove it through with a crack. Withdrawing she flexed her aching fingers and admired her handy work with a smirk.

MERCENARY FOR HIRE

Need an extra sword arm?

Some hired protection?

Or a quick blade?

Ask for Bitzer.

There was a firm nod as she turned the large stone round in her hand. Although perhaps it was not much it was a start. It could get the name circulating round, the whispers between people and with that factor it meant income. Stepping away from it she gave a turn, her form ducking into an alley way and around. She had to get things organised, a daily routine sorted out of a sorts. Chewing her lips she found herself at another blank wall, and rose another sheet with the same script as before and promptly pressed the note and thin nail up.

Fingers carefully lined it up, her lips pursing into a line as she tapped the head of it with the stone. The tapping gradually grew more focused. Catching her knuckle she flinched away, shaking the hand off with the dull ache, and promptly moved on once more. There was a few more firm taps of it against the head, her brow creasing in concentration - continue putting up the fliers, keep looking for work, and then finally go to the Pigs Foot in the evening. Then repeat.

"Better be petching worth it."

by **Shai** on May 14th, 2014, 3:57 pm

Shai tugged her hood farther over her face. As useful as her night leather armor and black cloak were excellent for hiding in the night, less so for the daylight. While the black cloak wasn’t wholly out of place on the day lit streets of Sunberth, it wasn’t normal. All the same, it was better to be thought the oddity in the black cloak than the obvious Symenestra waiting for capture. The sun had risen hours ago and the spider was out past her bed time. It was too dangerous to be seen across the rooftops during the day so the spider was resigned to the streets. In her meandering through the city back towards her home, the spider happened to observe a woman hanging a notice. As the stranger walked away the thief sidled up to read the news.

Ducking away from the missive the little thief stared at the receding back of the stranger, whom she could only assume was this Bitzer. Slipping back into the street on the outskirts of the traffic the spider followed the woman to her next posting.

“Excuse me” she interrupted in a voice reminiscent of the chime of a mourning bell. Rolling the name around her mouth the Symenos lilt found the name both awkward and somehow pleasing, although she pronounced it more like ‘Biitzair’ rather than ‘Bitzer’ it was close.“Are you this Bitzer who is seeking work?” Shai had been gone from Sunberth too long, she had found no familiar faces aside from Antar and Merv the Pig’s Foot owner though she suspected several old establishments still had their grisly managers in place. Whoever this Bitzer was she had no way to ask about for her reputation, so there was little to be gained from stalking the woman. Sometimes the best gamble was to throw the dice and see if they came up snake eyes or a treasure trove of three. “If you are, could I buy you a stout mug? I have a proposition for you.” Politeness came easy to the Symenestra even though the old cord is rang in Sunberth was discord, it would provide a façade that this stranger might believe for a time. In contradiction amethyst eyes probed the woman’s form for hints of her persona. The little blue gemstone necklace twisted perhaps because of a shift in her stance, perhaps not.

If this woman proved trustworthy and skillful then maybe a real conversation could occur, until then Shai shuffled through aliases in her mind trying to pick a name to suit the situation. The thief would go easy on her first proposal, not an important task but one that would still test this mercenary. If the woman proved useful the stakes could rise.

by **Fallon** on May 16th, 2014, 7:54 am

There was only the gentle clunk of stone and metal for a moment, a click as she focused on pressing the implement into the wood. A mutter, a string of curses under her breath as she picked upon the rougher tones. Sunberth, the professional face, the one of work that was required for dealing with people. Locals mainly, and the Scars. There was another long inhale, a twiddling as she pressed it firmly and then paused. Did she hear something? She gave a frown, a step back as she looked upon the next posting she had managed to put up, before she turned her head. A blink, a moment of regard as she took the black cloak in – a veil from the world that masked much underneath. Was it a woman’s voice? It certainly seemed to have the pitch for it, and the tones seemed to match. But that accent, there was something odd about it.

A lean away, Fallon took the chime to weight up the words. It was a potential for coin, at least the way it was questioned and worded. Tucking the rest of the papers under her arm, and the large stone once more being turned within her grasp, she answered with a crisp tone, ”It is I. That is correct.”

Nostrils gave a flare, an inhale of the stench of the city as she weighed this woman up. What did she want? Work possibly? Or maybe she was a knife in the dark looking to run a blade between her ribs. That Sunberth paranoia was beginning to set in, she could feel it already. That offer of a drink, the supposed proposition – which no doubt would come to light soon – was a bit to convenient for her liking. The chin gave a lift, the green-blue orbs looking down upon the woman as she carefully chose her words, ”I don’t drink and work. It makes me prone to making bad deals and foolish mistakes. Something, I cannot afford to do.”

Lips gave a curl, a careful fold of the pages before she tucked them into her pocket. The hand however continued to flex around the stone, feeling the weight as she focused. Fiddling almost as she decided the next part. There was the incline of the head, her gaze turning onwards to look for the next location to place an advertisement on. Just a few more needed to be put up, to circulate the name and have her known as a mercenary looking for work. Eyes gave a blink, and her head an incline to further ahead, ”But, I shall indulge you on your proposition for now. You do not mind if I continue my business whilst we… discuss? Or would you prefer I meet you later Miss…?”

She left the blank there where it lay, allowing the one who approached to make a decision. Whatever choice was made afterwards, Fallon simply gave a nod in understanding and continued on her way. Another page was slipped forth, a smoothing down of the surface as she located another blank space to work upon.

by **Shai** on May 16th, 2014, 5:59 pm

“Good, drunks make fine marks.” Although she suppressed it, a yawned edged into her voice nearly drowning out her approval. The Symenestra quietly kept pace with Bitzer. It seemed this hired sword had a right head on her shoulders and in Sunberth, Shai had found that to be a rare quality. The thief had found fewer such individuals than she had fingers on one hand. At the same time, one statement did not intelligence make, she would yet reserve judgment.

“We may talk here. I need a pair of eyes, perhaps a diversion. Nothing dangerous.” Shai remained relatively polite, a small miracle given her lack of sleep and general tendency towards humans, but business was business. In her own twisted sense of fair-play she added, “Unless you are caught.” Though she had kept up with the mercenary Shai wasn’t standing overly close, only just within arm’s reach; any further would not be conducive to discussion in the busy streets.

“I will offer you five gold mizas or one miza of every five I earn.” If there were more involved such a cut of profits wouldn’t work, but this more audition than trying venture, besides Shai enjoyed anticipating the woman’s answer. Would she gamble? Someone willing to jump at a chance came with their own benefits and drawbacks, but those could be compensated for if she knew which Bitzer was. As for the static price it ought to be just the right amount to entice the poor to accept such a vague appointment and insult the highly skilled or egotistical.

Shai smiled, she had failed to answer this woman’s only true question involving the job. She clicked her claws together beneath her cloak, thinking. Shai had never managed to rid herself of the tell but she found she rarely needed to lie if she did not speak at all, and if thieves had to talk odds were already bad for them. Her old alias for this city while certainly gone cold might somehow be recognized. That alias had nefarious connotations. With a sound nestled somewhere between sigh and chuckle she said, “You may know of me as Saris.” Her face scrunched momentarily, something about her wording had been off in that but she couldn’t recall how to say it better. Perhaps the implication of alias was too much, it was likely a forgone conclusion in the city of well-founded suspicions.

Turning almond-shaped lavender eyes up from the ground for the first time in view of Bitzer, For the observant her face was pale enough that the spidery grey veins leading up her throat could be seen through her skin and where another woman might have brownish or peach lips Shai possessed lips that almost matched a natural light flesh tone. Thinking back momentarily Shai realized her testing of the woman had already begun, each question was coded; some unintentionally. She shrugged to herself, it was a very Sunberthian shrug which might be one of the first fully honest thing she had done in this conversation yet. “You have any objections to these terms?”

by **Fallon** on May 19th, 2014, 5:24 pm

Smoothing the paper against the surface, Fallon took out one of the nails. There was a moment of haphazardness as she tried to line the nail up. There was a pause, lining up as she took the stone within her grasp and nestled it within her palm. From there she simply hammered it in, eyes focused completely upon it a near tune out of words as the woman spoke. She needed her fingers in one piece after all for work. A dull thud, the clipped sounds as she tried to press the iron into the wood, before she stepped back to admire her work and spoke with a wiry tone, ”Drunks are also good at finding early graves.”

The rock was twiddled within her grasp once more, her eyes looking directly to the hood and the shadow beneath – the eyes were still beyond visible behind the dark veil. A narrow of lids, she gave a pause as she felt the weight of it and thought upon both the payment and the proposition. The other hand became animated, sifting through the pockets to find another flier written in her hand. A nod of understanding, a long pause as she ruminated and formed her own questions.

”Danger is interpreted differently to the individual,” the gloved hand smoothed out the crinkles, eyes looking down the bridge of her nose at the ink. She spied a smudge upon the page, ”What sort of extra eyes, and what sort of diversion springs to mind? Extra eyes are useful for seeing, but one needs an extra tongue to communicate it too.” The gaze swept away at that point, looking and searching at the woman beneath the cloak – a hint as to what or who she was outside of the flowing fabric. Defining features were still missed, and outside of that accent there was little she could grasp upon. No, she would have been lost in the crowd and unable to be found. It was clever really.

Barely an utterance of words she made an approach over, hands resting upon her sides, the finger briefly tracing the crook of the kukri at her spine – checking that it was still where it was – before she let the lips curl into a wolfish smile. She needed to understand what she was dealing with first, and with that she could decide upon what tools she exactly needed to work. Fingers twitched in calculation, working out the amounts within her head. The season had only just begun, and thus the prospects of coin. A gamble in its finest form, and one that would require her to work at her best to achieve an equal if not better pay out.

”Saris,” she tested the name, ”You know the one I go by already.” She spied the gaze from beneath the hood, the open mouth of shadow and those amethysts that stared out. A blink, a pull back as she considered the colour. It could be the eyes of a Vantha, those unusual colours that mimicked the sky and shifted with moods. She paused, a flicker between the snippets of information she already had. Pale and those grey lips; it reminded her of the sunken features of the undead, Nuit and their tired expression. But the eyes were too alive and bright for that, and as a counter point the skin tone was off to be one of the snow people. Which lead her to pluck upon the thoughts of other species – something that would no doubt take a while. She stretched her gloved left hand forward in gesture to shake, eyes narrowing down almost in challenge, ”I will take the gamble, it may serve as encouragement. And no objections just yet. I may require incentive to turn up however. State your date and location.”

by **Shai** on June 5th, 2014, 4:34 pm

Shai watched the posting process in her periphery. She could hardly imagine wanting to be known so widely as to create literal notices, but she could see how it might be useful for a hired arm. “If all goes well you would not need to communicate anything. As for a diversion I leave that up to you, if that is your work then it will be to remove thugs.” Shai tilted her head thoughtfully. She had seen all sorts in Sunberth those who fought with stealth or arms and those fought with intelligence or seduction, “However you like.” On the other hand what stood for a thug in Sunberth was nearly everyone, so her instruction couldn’t be less clear if she had tried.

Nodding as the alias was named; the thief’s eyes flittered over the hand though she made not even the slightest motion to grasp it. Instead a strange clicking began. Shai clicked her nails together when she was either annoyed or nervous, which was the case here was a tossup. The spider had seen enough humans shake hands with all their strength as though trying to cause their counterpart discomfort. Without a doubt such an attempt from the average human would break her hand. It was too great a risk to take on such a new acquaintance. “A gamble indeed” she replied though half to herself.

The Symenestra’s eyes were beginning to strain it was too bright and too late for the nocturnal woman, soon the agitation would progress to a headache. She didn’t already have a mark a mind and it really came down to picking a side of the river. At night getting across a bridge was a bit of fanfare for the thief, but trying to take a human over one might be suicidal. Or at the very least it would cut into their profits. The southern half of the city had too many dangerous marks, so the north it would half to be though that wasn’t really any safer. “Meet me at the entrance to the seaside market at dusk on the 15th of Summer. Not in the market. I do not want to run with water in my boots.” Though she said boots, most often the spider worked without footwear but not in that market. Who knew what might be under the water.

The crowd jostled to Shai’s right and a man fell sprawled just before her next step. The lithe thief hardly paused but as she stepped over the fleshy stepping stone she bent her knees low. Keeping her hands within her cloaked and so obscuring her actions, with a razor sharp claw she sliced away the pathetic excuse for a coin pouch from the man’s belt and continued following Bitzer. She had put a timer on their interaction now, once the dazed man gained his feet and realized he was lighter, there was only one obvious thief. She hadn’t been particularly stealthy quite on purpose. Fingering the coins, almost certainly coppers, she tossed half towards Bitzer; it was up the mercenary to catch. But she had succeeded in giving the woman the information she sought with her handshake; a look at the spider’s hands. Ashy and the place on her body where the veins were most pronounced, this oddity was only overshadowed by the long sharpened nails meticulously cared for by the woman. Let no one say Shai would not oblige a request, even one unspoken . . . so long as it suited her. “Any further questions?” She glanced back over her shoulder the man was only just now standing up. Smoothly she returned to looking forward, the victim would likely look around bewildered next; then it would be time to run.

by **Fallon** on June 8th, 2014, 10:49 am

There was an incline of the head, the pause as she considered her options. Having freedom to work as she did best, unrestrained and without any conditions. Just as she liked it. Of course, the flip side meant it had many ways in which to work from and with that came the terrible part of deciding how to operate. There was a chew upon her lips, her eyes narrowing with thought - speed and the ability to be vocal came to mind. A snort at the idea of dealing with thugs amused her however, it simply meant the Sunberth mob within her mind. Withdrawing the outstretched hand when it was left empty, the mercenary continued with her appointed task of advertisement.

That wiry tone, the reluctance to outstretch the hand to her out of whatever reason she wished. And that made her lip only curl further. Bit by bit she was working her way through the races, ears twitching and her eyes darting about back and forth looking for further clues as to her exact nature. Her brow only rose, her fingers rolling the stone between her fingers once more. Taking the gentle steps forward, her head only occasionally looked back to Saris. Fallon was running out of sheets now, so upon taking up the last one she turned her attention to finding a place to position it. Behind her the woman spoke, leaving a date and a location for such events. Nodding in acceptance she begun to add the pieces together in her mind and the dry humour escaping, "I can work with that. Summer evenings are always much more pleasant than the day."

A mental list of Sunberth etiquette begun to form in her head. Firstly, never offer a hand shake - they never take it even when a deal is made. Secondly - her eye spied the way Saris had looked over the man as he laid gurgling drunk noises in the gutter - make sure ones coin purse is somewhere hidden. The sheet was folded in half for now and the stone tucked away into her pocket. Rocking upon her heels, she watched the way the woman stood - the faint chink sounding out from beneath the layers. The right hand whipped out when the coppers came, far from a fast reaction but enough to snag them between her fingers. There was a pause, the left coming round to press the coins firmly into her palm before she withdrew them to safety.

"No further questions, I can work with your conditions" Her lip curled, her answer now found. Grey skin, black nails, the distinct subtitles of the accent and the way those eyes glinted in the shadow - A Symestra. Whilst there was some wariness in the wonder of if there was more of her kind about, it also gave some strange peace of mind to know what exactly she was dealing with. Taking a firm step to the side and clearing a way to walk own, she kept the growing wolfish grin upon her face. A thief, a spider paired with a mercenary - it would be wrong to say it did not excite her in some way. Somewhere in her mind it told her a tale of a grand adventure or some serious mischief making.

The man had stood now, disorientated as he tried to gather himself. There was only a gentle bow of the head, eyes narrowed but the expression never changing. The tone however dipped down into an amused tone, "Until then silk spinner."

by **Ablation** on June 18th, 2014, 11:45 pm

I thoroughly enjoyed this thread, it was brief and concise and their interactions were very Sunberthian.

I love that you guys didn't feel the need to make a long social thread that always seems forced and awkward between strangers and instead left it at observation and pertinent chatter. Very nice!

Shai :

Fallon :

Please don't be afraid to PM me with any questions ^-^ and please don't forget to remove your grading request from the list.

Open [Castle Commons] Back to the grindstone