Solo Flying Free At Last

Kelski's life takes an unexpected turn.

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A lawless town of anarchists, built on the ruins of an ancient mining city. [Lore]

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Flying Free At Last

Postby Kelski on June 7th, 2018, 1:08 am

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Timestamp: 1st of Summer, 518 A.V.


The Kelvic was curled up in the bottom of the old wardrobe sound asleep when the shouting started. It was muffled, coming from Jaren’s main room, though the shouting was loud enough she could hear what was being said even through the workshop door and even through the partially closed doors of the wardrobe. Kelski hadn’t had a real bed to sleep on since Lhavit. The wardrobe, however, was probably one of the most comfortable places she’d found refuge and certainly had beaten the open decks of casinors by a long shot. It was one of the things she longed for, and perhaps if she ever got free would be one of the first things she’d buy for herself.

Jaren’s was comfortable enough. She’d spent serious time in it, not as one of his whores, but chained up by the foot of it or comfortably asleep in the massive space well past where her master slept usually with whatever companion occupied his bed. It had amused Jaren to keep her there, sometimes ordered to watch, sometimes ordered to keep her back turned. He liked being the center of attention, the mainstage of whatever great theater production he was producing in his mind. Kelski often wanted no part of it.

Being owned by Jaren had taught her with hedonism truly was. And while she often lacked the abuse other slaves in the city suffered, being his ‘possession’ was truly one of the worst things in her life.

The deep angry voice coming from Jaren’s room was his father. Jardeg Joander was evidently irritated at Jaren for some reason or another… probably due to his lack of productivity with things he oversaw. Kelski had noted The Barracks, which was Jaren’s last lone duty was in utter disrepair. The building was old, run down, and had all kinds of leaks in it. There was no permanently assigned rooms. The whole building had fallen into a sort of ‘might means right’ in terms of who occupied where.

The strongest most powerful members of Sun's Birth got the biggest rooms, and those rooms tended to be the ones that didn’t miss parts of the roof or had walls blown out. The rest crowded together for warmth and often cannibalized from other parts of the Barracks to shore up their walls and leaking roof. Jaren was supposed to change all that. After he’d been in charge of more important things, like territory, and lost it to rival gangs… Jardeg Joander had put him where he thought Jaren could do no damage with his hedonistic laziness.

The Warmarshal had been wrong.

Even Kelski, a lowly slave, could have told anyone Jaren was pocketing most of Jardeg’s money and then spending it on luxury in his apartment. The items reminded Kelski of a treasure trove or one of those ancient vaults that contained lost pre-Valterrian treasure that people often spoke of in stories. Jaren was driving The Sun Birth’s into poverty and letting their buildings fall into disrepair. She wondered, this time, how Jaren would get out of Jardeg’s wrath or if that was even possible.

The arguing continued for what seemed bells until her door slammed open and Jardeg Joander stood framed in its archway. Kelski poked her head out of the wardrove where she’d given up on sleep, and was then roughly hauled into view as the Warmarshal came over, clamped an iron fist around her thin arm, and pulled her out of her nest at the bottom of the wardrobe.
Last edited by Kelski on June 7th, 2018, 1:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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They laugh at me because I am different.
I laugh at them because they are all the same.


Painted Sky Jewelry (The Wildlands) | Crossroads Jewelry (The Outpost)
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Kelski
Freedom is earned. Fight for it.
 
Posts: 1598
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Joined roleplay: July 3rd, 2014, 11:08 pm
Location: The Wildlands of Sylira & The Empyreal Demesne
Race: Kelvic
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Freedom

Postby Kelski on June 7th, 2018, 1:09 am

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“This… Jaren… this jeweler is just another example of an excess you don’t need… we don’t need. We … I say, because your actions represent the whole of Sun’s Birth. You are an embarrassment. Keeping slaves is one thing, but do we really need the cost of our own personal jeweler when The Barracks are falling down?” He asked, biting off the words. He looked around at the workshop Kelski had set up and shook his head.

“How much money are you making off this little setup? How much is going back into your pockets and not ‘our’ funds? You can’t keep doing this, Jaren. Granted, part of this is my fault but by the Gods its time you grew up too. I want this room and workshop liquidated by morning. I want the funds going directly to a new roof. I want you moved into a new room that’s just a single room and your entire posh collection of ‘relics and treasure’ liquidated too. That can go for new siding and add it into the roof fund if we don’t have enough to cover the current needs.” He said, his words harsh and final.

Jaren blanched. He didn’t once glance at Kelski or note the fact that the Kelvic was frozen in fear. Jardeg Joander’s words had in essence caught up Kelski’s breath in her throat. Her heart pounded wildly. Was this it then? Was this when they took her to the auction and got what they could from her? Kelski didn’t want to suffer that humiliation again.

She’d had to undergo it every time one of the Svefra had traded her since the time she was captured. The latest had been when Jaren had stripped her and examined her before he purchased her from the latest Svefra that had owned her. Bile rose in Kelski’s throat and she saw black before her eyes. Part of it was hunger. She’d went to bed without anything to eat while food had lain on trays in Jaren’s room growing cold while he’d plowed a courtesan from the better part of town.

Father and son’s voices rose again as Jaren argued with Jardeg, but the Warmarshal was not backing down. In fact, he drew out a letter and a thick bag of Mizas. He tossed them up and down in his hand. “I have even taken care of the disposal of this Kelvic for you. And you may not like it…. But here’s what is going to happen. I received a letter from a Master Li of Lhavit. Along with the letter came this purse… far more than the value of one skinny kelvic you are well on your way from ruining.” He said, tossing the bag up and down and brandishing the letter.

He handed part of the letter to Kelski and released the grip on her arm. “He sent enough to buy your freedom in full. And he asked that you get that part of the letter which was written for you.” Jardeg said, re-pocketing the heavy bag of gold mizas and holding out his hand to Jaren.

“The key to her collar….” He said sternly. Jaren looked sullen there for a moment then took a gold chain that had been tucked into his shirt out and slipped it over his head. On it was a key to Kelski’s collar. Jardeg Joander didn’t even ask as he spun Kelski around, grabbed her hair by the scruff, and lifted it out of the way while he unlocked the collar.

He let it fall to the floor then ran his hand down Kelski’s form past her breasts and onto her flat thin stomach. He rubbed it hard, palpating it, before he released her. “He hasn’t planted his bastard in you has he?” He asked, no-nonsense in his voice. Kelski started to stammer an answer but then Jaren interrupted.

“She’s a filthy animal, Father! I have perfectly good companions from Ruby’s!” He exclaimed, horrified. It was true that Jaren had never used her that way. Her darkened skin at her mouth, nose, eyes, and even her darkened tones at her more private places had the man utterly in a terror if he did anything with her his own member would blacken.
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They laugh at me because I am different.
I laugh at them because they are all the same.


Painted Sky Jewelry (The Wildlands) | Crossroads Jewelry (The Outpost)
User avatar
Kelski
Freedom is earned. Fight for it.
 
Posts: 1598
Words: 2015452
Joined roleplay: July 3rd, 2014, 11:08 pm
Location: The Wildlands of Sylira & The Empyreal Demesne
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 11
Featured Character (1) Featured Thread (2)
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (1)
Overlored (1) Donor (1)
One Thousand Posts! (1) One Million Words! (1)
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Freedom

Postby Kelski on June 7th, 2018, 2:09 am

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Jardeg then handed Kelski a neatly sealed parchment dripped with wax and sealed with Master Li’s Shining Diamond symbol. It was thick with writing and unbroken. The Kelvic had to look at the Warmarshal with wonder. He didn’t read it? He gave it to her with the seal unbroken? Were there actually humans here with a sense of honor even though they were fallen knights? Kelski started to thank him but he cut her off.

“Don’t thank me. Pack your stuff. I’ll send it over to No Man’s Land Tavern and get you a room there. Take only what you came with or what he’s given you personally while you were here. I’ll have a bit of servant’s money for you too when you get there. You have some insane skills, from what I hear, but its not what we need as a gang. I’m not willing to add high end elegant jewelry to our interests. We live by blades not by glitter. I recommend you go see Goldfinger and set yourself up with a business before the sun sets. He will assign you one of his assistants to help you. I have letters of recommendation for you with a testament to your skill. My word should be good enough. Your reputation that Jaren has so carefully built proceeds you. He’ll give you whatever you want and make you promise him the moon in exchange. I do not give you these lightly though… “ Jardeg said, pulling out more papers from his inner jacket. He waved them about. “You will owe me a commissioned piece free of charge at my time and place of request. Sun’s Birth is about favors owed and claimed. You will owe me one.” He said.

What he didn’t say was that then Goldfinger would also owe him one. Bringing him a potential high income earner to give loans to and collect high interest from was a definite boon and perhaps the next time Sun’s Birth needed a large influx of cash fast for something they were working on, Goldfinger would feel a little more loose about giving it up.

Kelski nodded. “I agree. A favor in the form of a commission asked for at your choice and in your style.” She said neatly, having been around the Sun’s Birth long enough to understand this is how they worked. All in all she was getting a good deal for someone that moments ago didn’t even have her own freedom. She might have nothing in the world, but she would have something after all of this if she worked hard and kept her wits about her. She could even set up something that would please Akajia if she played her cards right. Returning to Lhavit right now wasn’t feasible. She had neither the coin nor the means, but with this Goldfinger, Jardeg gave her hope that in the future it might be. Clutching the letter from Master Li to her chest, she reached out with her other hand and took the paperwork that Jardeg intended she give to Goldfinger.

Jaren was standing there furious. His face was beet red and his fist were clenched, but he wasn’t standing up to his father. Both men turned and left Kelski to pack her small sea chest. It would be too heavy for her to carry, but then again Jardeg did say he’d see it delivered to No Man’s Land Tavern along with coin. A soft smile played across her lips. She packed all her jewelcrafting gear that Jaren hadn’t gotten her.. most of it was stuff she’d made or replaced from her training in Lhavit. She also folded the nice dress, slippers and cloak into the chest. Jaren had never asked for them back. She left all the boys clothing that she always wore… and picked up the discarded collar with its key. She tossed the key in the trunk but took the collar to the workbench and pried the clasp off it. Once free of any sort of way to close, she tossed it into the trunk as well. Dressing from her thin shift to a decent yet worn dress she packed the shift in her trunk and dragged it to the door connecting the two rooms.
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They laugh at me because I am different.
I laugh at them because they are all the same.


Painted Sky Jewelry (The Wildlands) | Crossroads Jewelry (The Outpost)
User avatar
Kelski
Freedom is earned. Fight for it.
 
Posts: 1598
Words: 2015452
Joined roleplay: July 3rd, 2014, 11:08 pm
Location: The Wildlands of Sylira & The Empyreal Demesne
Race: Kelvic
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Medals: 11
Featured Character (1) Featured Thread (2)
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (1)
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Freedom

Postby Kelski on June 7th, 2018, 2:21 am

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Jaren’s suite was immaculate as ever, but the tension was as thick as steel and just as unbreakable. Her former owner stood seething while his father directed numerous younger men to cart away what Kelski would have called ‘Jaren’s riches’ to be cataloged and sold to repair the Barracks. Kelski was glad for it. In a lot of ways there were good people here, good people that suffered under Jaren’s neglect. As she dragged the chest into the room, she ran smack into a hard flesh wall. Hands closed on her shoulders and spun her around. Darvin stood there. His face was unreadable which was never good. He studied her as Jardeg turned to him.

“Ah… Darvin. Good, you are here. I’d like you to see to it that Kelski’s things get delivered to No Man’s Land and then personally escort her to Goldfinger’s place. Once there, she should be fine on her own. He will take good care of her.” The Warmarshal ordered even as he grabbed his son’s shoulder roughly and pushed him out of the room ahead of him.

The two of them could just make out the conversation going on between the two men as they left the suit. Jardeg made it clear that under no circumstances was Jaren supposed to live in a suite again. It was clear to Kelski he was being busted back to a normal sized room until he could get The Barracks fixed up the way The Sun Birth’s Warmarshal thought was appropriate. Kelski hoped Jaren did what he was supposed to. She’d made friends here… Neras came to mind immediately. He deserved to live in a room that was warm and dry all winter.

Would Jaren learn anything? Kelski wasn’t sure. His ego was extraordinary. And his world revolved around him. The Kelvic wasn’t sure there was anything anyone could do to change Jaren. She thought he was just born wrong or raised wrong… he seemed vastly different than his father. She couldn’t say why though. Humans….

When they were gone, Kelski turned to Darvin to offer him a quiet smile. She wasn’t sure how her former guard was going to handle Jardeg freeing her, but she hoped he’d be pleased for her. The look on his face told her differently. He shook his head in disgust. Kelski watched in confusion. Was he angry? She tried to read his face but It was clouded by deep thought. It was a long time before he spoke.

“What a petching waste…. a waste of resource, of profit…. an all around waste….” He snarled and approached. In one smooth motion, he captured the Kelvic by the throat. Choking up on her he stared down at her. She saw then that there was rage in his eyes… pure unfiltered rage. “I was so good because Jaren asked me to. I’ve done so much for him. You were to be my reward, little birdy. My absolute utter reward. I’ve been sampling you all along. I’ve broken you down, remolded you, and made you what you are now. I taught you to fight. I taught you to survive here. And now what? The shyte Warmarshal is letting you FLY FREE?”

There was such rage in his gaze that Kelski tried to take a step back. Darvin choked up on her, cutting off her air. Kelski’s hands came up and grabbed at his hand, clawing at him with her long overly sharp nails. He ignored her until she struck a few good gouges and then he gave her a good shake. She couldn’t even grab enough breath to whimper as darkness creeped up on the edge of her vision.

And just when she thought she was going to lose consciousness, Darvin released her abruptly. She choked, gasped, and almost fell.

His snarl was savage as he shook his head and grabbed two of the boys that were still coming in and out of the suite, unloading its treasures. “You there… and you… come pick up this chest. Go deliver it over to the No Man’s Land Tavern. Tell the proprietor that a kelvic is going to take a room for a few days and she’ll be along tonight… to have everything ready.” He said abruptly, his voice lined with fury. The boys nodded, scrambled with the big chest, and managed to heft it up and start carrying it away.

When they were gone, Darvin turned back to Kelski. “Come on… lets go.” He said abruptly and started off, leaving the suite and expecting her to follow.
Image
They laugh at me because I am different.
I laugh at them because they are all the same.


Painted Sky Jewelry (The Wildlands) | Crossroads Jewelry (The Outpost)
User avatar
Kelski
Freedom is earned. Fight for it.
 
Posts: 1598
Words: 2015452
Joined roleplay: July 3rd, 2014, 11:08 pm
Location: The Wildlands of Sylira & The Empyreal Demesne
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 11
Featured Character (1) Featured Thread (2)
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (1)
Overlored (1) Donor (1)
One Thousand Posts! (1) One Million Words! (1)
Sunberth Seasonal Challenge (1) Power Fork (1)

Freedom

Postby Kelski on June 7th, 2018, 3:18 am

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Suddenly Kelski didn’t want to go with him. She wanted to be anywhere but alone with Darvin. Her neck still ached. And the rage rolling off the big Dragoon was tangible. Seasons of training with him had taught her how dangerous the man was, be it with the drugs he made or with his fists or with his blades. Being on the receiving end of his wrath was not her idea of a way to stay safe. But it honestly looked like Darvin was going to follow orders for once. He wasn’t exactly a deviant. It was just that he wasn’t good conforming to the sense of community whole that the Sun’s Birth was trying to promote.

As independent as Jaren, Darvin did his own thing and made a fortune doing it. None of his profits ended up in the Sun’s Birth coffers either. In that, Jaren and Darvin were tight. They operated in their own circles that advanced their wealth not the wealth of the gang who sheltered them. Kelski knew too much about it, she realized suddenly and wondered if that was why Darvin was in a rage.

They walked briskly and the further from The Barracks they got the more Darvin seemed to seethe. She caught him looking at her a time or two and shaking his head. Finally, he spoke. It was almost a relief to Kelski when he started talking about what was in his mind. “If the Warmarshal is shutting down Jaren’s antics, I’m not far behind. I’ve worked to long and two hard to let this little empire crumble.” He spit out, looking about as angry as she’d seen him be.

“Maybe its time you expanded your operations to include The Sun Birth in your profits. That would keep you open and satisfy the Warmarshal.” Kelski said quietly, her voice raspy from Darvin’s earlier grip on her throat. Normally she would have kept quiet, but she didn’t like seeing him this way, seeing him unstable and angry and … was that scared?

Kelski had no love for Darvin. She would have put a knife through his heart in a single breath without remorse, but this was something different. It was hard watching an infallible man physically feel fear. She didn’t want to soothe him either. She knew better than to have sympathy for him. But still, part of her felt something….

His answer was to slam her into a half crumbled wall they’d been walking by on their way towards Goldfingers. She said nothing, just froze as he crowded her space and pinned her there. “Shut up. Just shut the petch up. You know nothing…. you’ve seen nothing… just the surface. There’s no way you can understand or even offer me advice. Stupid stupid cunt.”

He said, staring at her and suddenly taking her jaw in his hand. He stroked a thumb across her lower lip, forcing her mouth open a bit, revealing her blunt white teeth that seemed so healthy against the darkness of her blue-black gums. “I’m going to miss this beautiful mouth, Kelski.”
Image
They laugh at me because I am different.
I laugh at them because they are all the same.


Painted Sky Jewelry (The Wildlands) | Crossroads Jewelry (The Outpost)
User avatar
Kelski
Freedom is earned. Fight for it.
 
Posts: 1598
Words: 2015452
Joined roleplay: July 3rd, 2014, 11:08 pm
Location: The Wildlands of Sylira & The Empyreal Demesne
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 11
Featured Character (1) Featured Thread (2)
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (1)
Overlored (1) Donor (1)
One Thousand Posts! (1) One Million Words! (1)
Sunberth Seasonal Challenge (1) Power Fork (1)

Freedom

Postby Kelski on June 7th, 2018, 3:20 am

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The Kelvic froze. Half-formed memories surged into her mind of Darvin’s hands fisted in her hair, thrusting her head against him as drugs swirled through her system. The Kelvic gagged, the memory calling up a taste in her mouth and a musky male smell, one she couldn’t seem to get out of her senses. The Kelvic started to tremble.

He stroked her mouth again with his rough thumb. “Every time, Kelski…. every time I gave you a batch I’d have you. Oh, I left you alone like Jaren told me too… in that way. He didn’t want his jeweler spawning brats he had to deal with. But he never said I couldn’t have your beautiful mouth and with you riding high you never seemed to care that I filled your belly with a little extra something to go with the drugs. Every time. I’m going to miss you slurping me down. You are always so hungry.” He said viciously, a sneer on his lips as he continued to run his thumb roughly over her lips, holding her mouth open, watching the terror fill her eyes.

Bile rose in Kelski’s mouth. She clamped her eyes shut to hide her reaction to Darvin’s words. She knew there were things she didn’t remember; besides the countless highs and countless times he’d made her sick with bad batches.

He moved away, giving her space, and she took a breath. Opening her eyes, she watched him watching her with a calculating gaze. “I’ll deliver you safely to Goldfingers, as The Warmarshal has asked. But then, Kelski…. then you are free game. Somewhere, somehow… I’m going to find you. I’m going to claim what I denied myself. I’m going to hunt you like you hunt those rats in The Barracks. And then I’m going to devour you…. until there’s nothing left. Do you understand? I want you going to sleep at night knowing I might be there. I want you to wake up…. each and every day… knowing this might be the one I decide I’m going to have what I’ve been denying myself these last two seasons.”

His grin was infernally smug, and that’s when he gestured to the large house across the street… a mansion really, completely gated, with a large gilded sign reading Goldfingers. Without another word, Darvin turned and walked away, leaving Kelski alone standing in front of the gate. She had her papers with her – letters of recommendation – but suddenly life didn’t seem so fine. Freedom didn’t taste free. It tasted bitter and filled with worry that tainted every breath she took.

Gods…. what was she going to do? Kelski longed for the comfort of night and the company of shadows. They would help get her prayers to Akajia. But Kelski knew what Akajia would say anyhow. “Work through it. Find out all of Darvin’s secrets and destroy him with his own darkness..

She let Darvin walk away without a word. Then with a deep breath she crossed the street, opened the gate and walked up to Goldfingers with her papers in hand. This was the logical next step. She only hoped it would protect her enough and that she wasn’t trading one slavery for another
Image
They laugh at me because I am different.
I laugh at them because they are all the same.


Painted Sky Jewelry (The Wildlands) | Crossroads Jewelry (The Outpost)
User avatar
Kelski
Freedom is earned. Fight for it.
 
Posts: 1598
Words: 2015452
Joined roleplay: July 3rd, 2014, 11:08 pm
Location: The Wildlands of Sylira & The Empyreal Demesne
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 11
Featured Character (1) Featured Thread (2)
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (1)
Overlored (1) Donor (1)
One Thousand Posts! (1) One Million Words! (1)
Sunberth Seasonal Challenge (1) Power Fork (1)

Flying Free At Last

Postby Kelski on August 12th, 2018, 2:01 pm

Grading

Kelski

Investigation +1
Intelligence +1
Negotiation +2
Logic +1

Lores: Master LI: Sent funds to free her, Jaren: Disgraced in the eyes of his father, liquidated his things to make repairs, Jardeg: Owes a free piece of jewelry too, Darvin: Angery she’s free, Jardeg: Gave her freedom, Darvin: Forced himself on her while she was drugged, Darvin: Made threats to find and hurt her once free.
Image
They laugh at me because I am different.
I laugh at them because they are all the same.


Painted Sky Jewelry (The Wildlands) | Crossroads Jewelry (The Outpost)
User avatar
Kelski
Freedom is earned. Fight for it.
 
Posts: 1598
Words: 2015452
Joined roleplay: July 3rd, 2014, 11:08 pm
Location: The Wildlands of Sylira & The Empyreal Demesne
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 11
Featured Character (1) Featured Thread (2)
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (1)
Overlored (1) Donor (1)
One Thousand Posts! (1) One Million Words! (1)
Sunberth Seasonal Challenge (1) Power Fork (1)


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