Scarred, Cursed and Ready [Conrad][Open]

[Trios]

Spring 89

“Hey Driver! if you want your precious cargo in one piece you better watch them bumps, I’m not actually a cushion for your stuff back here!” Barked an angry Isur from the back of one wagon which contained a rather large assortment of fabrics and jars of spices. A small wagon belonging to a Drykas tradesmen casually rolled their wagons into the tent city. His spirit seemed unhindered as the Isur had fixed his wagon for a simple meal. The city was always moving so to say that Trios had never been in this particular settling location of Endrykas but had definitely been in the city before. But this city held a great deal of memories to the Isur as his eyes coldly looked at the many tents and Drykas that wondered the area. It wasn’t fury that boiled in Trio’s belly, no hatred which would seep from the pain in his right leg. It was unrest and anxiety that plagued him, in simple terms he was filled with such vigour that it was causing the Isur to have a bad mood. Thoughts of revenge, redemption and power seemed to cycle through the mind of Trios as he absent-mindedly rubbed his injured leg. Revenge on a god who demanded that he’d bow before the divine beings of the world. It was this same god who thusly punished and cursed the Isur for his tenacity to state that man is equal to god and that no being should bow before another. Redemption on the prospect of showing to the world that what Trios had said was true and that he’d stand tall against all that who demanded him to kneel. The last thought of power was just a tool in Trios mind in which to attain his goals. But all of those three things were too far in the future to even think about attempting now. The current goal was to find his mystery ship as well as a following in which to challange anything that they saw fit. It was a simple step one but it was a big one in terms of effort. Finding the ship was proving to be a much greater task than Trios had anticipated with his mystery ship being incredible hard to find. And now with a curse mark and limp the challenge of the task was increasing. But the Isur’s pride was to great to let him give up on his goals….. There was a sudden stop of the wagon which broke Trios of his thoughts. It had look like his hitchhike on the caravan had ended and it was time to grab his belongings from the caravan before departing to set up his own camp in the city. Riverfall had proven quite interesting in terms of acquiring some useful information. Though it was a complete failure in Riverfall when it came to finding a magical healer to fuller restore the functionality of his leg. The Isur was almost certain that he’d be limping on a cane for the rest of his life now. Without a word of thanks to the wagon driver, Trios casually gathered his things from the wagon before grunting his departure from the merchants wagons. Trios current walk was more noticeable as he favoured his right leg as he limped his way along the rows of tents using a rather large carved cane to support his immense weight. Slung over his entire body were bags and satchels containing all of the Isur’s worldly possessions. The blue Isur was like a moving caravan himself from the amount of things he carried. “Errr I forgot how dull this place is in terms of scenery least the Drykas are more eyelevel to ya instead of them Akalak bastards….” Growled the Isur setting down his possessions on a suitable area to set up his small tent. Using his large hat to Wipe a small streak of sweat from his brow, Trios noted the rising temperature. Spring was at it’s last gasps whilst summer seemed ready to take over Mizahar any day now. This was good as it would provide a better searching environment when it came time to go out into coastlines to search for his ship. And with the storm season over the prospects of history repeating itself were quite low. Plus Trios had a suspicion that Zulrav at this time had way better things to do then torment a being that the god perceived to be no threat. Grunting in pain from his right leg Trios began to set up his tent. It wouldn’t take long before the Isur would have his small tent up. Once that work was done the Isur would dive into his readings and maps once again to plan for his trip back into the grassy wilderness of Endrykas. What ever lay in the future the Isur was going to be ready for it…

[Conrad]

Conrad was walking through the tent-city of endrykas,his trusty parrot on his shoulder, the fact that a caravan was going to arrive had quickly spread and even with his less then average grasp on the drykas language he had managed to figure out where the caravan had set up shop and since the last stop was from riverfall he might have the chance to get some supplies that the drykas didn't have most of the time, heck maybe he could get a book to write down his notes on malediction and medicine down. It might help to first design the circle first with the pictures and words inside of it before he tried to carve it on the bone, at least he would get anymore embarrassing mistakes like making the circle to small to fit the words and pictures in. It was to his great surprise when he faintly heard a familiar voice complain about the dullness of the scenery before the words trailed of into the distance. Quickly trying to pin down the source of the sound, he caught a glimpse of a small mountain of equipment walking out of sight behind a few tents. Speeding up his pace he chased after the familiar figure. It wasn't to long before he walked in on trios trying to put up his tent. His little buddy let out a happy and familiar squawk, "Squawk! little ma...!" Quickly reacting Conrad snapped his loudmouthed parrot's beak shut, giving an embarrassed chuckle. "Well trios, sure was a long time ago... How's your leg?" Conrad offered, trying to start up a conversation.

[Trios]

The most annoying voice in the entire world made Trios fumble with the tent rods as he attempted to insert them into the tarp. But by the grace of fate however it was cut short by a merciful hand of Conrad. It had indeed been a while since Trios had seen a friendly and recognisable face in his travels. Trios was glad that he could work solo for such long periods of time, gathering information among other things in that timeframe. A lesser man would have gone insane in such a place where the familiarity and companionship was void. But Riverfall provided more of a handful of things to accomplish so the Isur’s mind was safe as it had been solely focused on his goals during that time. “For the love of anything really you still be keeping the god-forsaken hell beast with you?!” said Trios as he strained his neck to look at the boy before cold eyes were aimed at the bird on his shoulder. Setting down some of the tent materials Trios stood casual before hobbling over to see the young lad. It was a decent swagger as each right step was stiff and required the use of a cane that was more tree trunk than stick to support the Isur’s weight. “Leg’s not important lad, s’far as I see if I can walk I can still kick yer ass any day…..plus I reckon Isur’s weren’t built for speed anyway!” The last part Trios chuckled sinisterly patting his injured leg before resting his arms on his cane to stare up at the slightly taller human. The leg was a bit of a hindrance but Trios was to proud and stubborn to admit out loud that it needed to be fixed by magical means. “But what has the great Conrad been up too? You finally figured out how to do more of them cheap parlor tricks?” Mocked Trios deliberately keeping his doings and dealings for the past two seasons to himself for the time being. It would interesting to know what the odd young lad had been doing for that time. Trios was sure that the boy had kept himself busy, and would have a decent tale to tell.

[Conrad]

Little buddy let out a muffled squawk around conrads hand when trios called him a godforsaken beast. Conrad however just ignored his parrot's protests as he gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Come now, little buddy ain't that bad and besides you know he is just a parrot, he doesn't know what he is saying.” Conrad managed to say, winching as he saw trios hobbling towards him with his bum leg, having to use a cane to be able to walk at all a product of his sloppy medical work. When trios just blew of his crippling wound as a minor annoyance, conrad just looked at the isur as if he had lost his mind, how in the name of Aquiras and priskil could anybody just blow off a crippled leg like it was nothing. His little buddy taking advantage of his boss' confusion to free himself from its grasp and take off, quickly flying away and landing on top of trios's hat, making himself comfortable as possible, not caring that the one he was sitting on hated his guts. Conrad just sighed and waited for trios to blow up at the fact that his little buddy was using him as a chair. “I haven't been up to much honestly,practiced some of my parlor tricks" one could almost hear the dissaproval in those last words. "I also have tried asking around for that boat you where looking for before you left to riverfall but I haven't got a lot of information about that,” He gave Trios a nervous look. “You are still going to find the boat and sail the suvan sea right? Or did ya give it up with that bum leg you got?”

[Trios]

“You say that, but if that bird is actually some kind of summoned demon….. I would not be surprised lad” Trios growled slowly taking his hat off whilst eyeing the passenger with such intensity that it would make a small child cry. “Just be glad I owe ya for the shotty leg work , so I will not be killing yer bird this day… but my patience wavers boy” Trios’s voice was laced with a mixture of annoyance and frustration but in a honest attempt at sounding civil. The Isur than casually offered the bird back to its owner as cold eyes scanned Conrad as he spoke. A dark chuckle escaped Trios throat as Conrad looked bewildered at the notion that Trios had no contempt at his right leg. The Isur also had an inkling of a suspicion that the human before him was restraining the urge to call him simply mad. It was a good thing thought Trios, that the whole madness appeal was plain to see. The madder you appeared the better ones safety, as no one likes to anger a crazy person. Well maybe the latter statement was a bit of a joke. But still apparent madness was a decent enough tool to use. “Well lad, if you use yer head you’d realize that the great Captain Trios always has a plan. Way I see it I can either curse the heavens for the injury….which is not far from the actual truth since you were there when it happened. Or live with the leg while searching for a way to fix it. I lean towards the latter boy so get that well set in your brain.” Trios hobbled back to the small mountain of equipment before scrounging a few rolled up charts he had purchased before his trip to Riverfall. Returning back to Conrad Trios tossed the western coastal charts of Cyprus to the boy. A sinister smile splashed across the man’s face as Trios recounted what he had been using the charts for. “I’ll have you know that I am by no means a glorified chart reader at this moment but I do know how to read them fathom numbers to find deadly shallows that are close to the coast of Cyprus. Almost punched out a barman at the frustration of them bloody charts” Trios said remembering a late night at some shady Riverfall bar where he traced every single fathom line to find the areas where a sloop would logically get shipwrecked. Knowing a small amount of information on ships and how deep they went into the water, the task turned more tedious than complicated. The Isur was sure a map reader could have done in less than an hour but Trios just muscled his way through the task in five hours. “Not that it guarantees a finding a ship but it sure as hell makes it better than blindly going into this search like last time.” Grumbled the small blue man scratching his long blue beard, recounting his failed search attempt in the winter. “So ya if my intentions aren’t making it though, I sure is hell not going to stop looking for that damn ship…but who said I was going to sail just in the Suvan sea, it’s a big world out there kid not going to limit my options ” said Trios in his usual tone of voice which sounded like a man who was permanently pissed off. But to those who knew the Isur could pick out the subtleties of when he was generally angry and when he was speaking like a regular person.

Secret :

Chart example:

[Conrad]

Conrad chuckled at trios's rant just quickly taking back the still a bit dizzied parrot before his little buddy got his mind back and it came to him that he could still bite the isur. “And I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of demon living in your clothes, when did ya last washed those?” Conrad gave back a rather weak barb as he put his buddy back on his shoulder, keeping an eye on him for other shanigans, before giving a short glare to trios. “Well if ya are going to kill my bird I'm going to make sure to forget anything to distract you from the pain when I am stitching you up from the aftermath of my parlor tricks as ya see them.” Conrad groused, hoping to let trios finally get over that little thing that happenend almost a season ago. “Why do ya hate little buddy with such passion anyway? It can't be from that little bit of payback a season ago can it?” Conrad once again kept his little buddy's beak shut with his hand, almost feeling that the guy would try to spout something else. Conrad just rolled his eyes at trios's boast that he always had a plan, though he couldn't help but grin at the fact that the isur didn't give up his goal yet. “Yeah though next time you try to spit in a god's face just let me kick you in the nuts first will you? That might be the least painful option for you.” He gave a look at trios' ruined leg and shook his head. “Well ya are going to need to find a marked healer to get your leg back into working condition and I think there are a few of those in endrykas, we just need to find em." he watched as trios began to rummage through his mountain of equipment before throwing a few charts at him, barely catching them and having to release his little buddy's beak to prevent them from falling to the ground. Clumsily opening up one of the charts while trying not to drop the other two conrad studied it, most of it not really making much sense, but he could see what the coastlines where , ignoring trios' ramble about almost breaking a bartenders jaw as he tried to figure out what it all meant. His little buddy at the moment finally freed again from conrads restricting grasp just stared at Trios with his beady eyes, conrad none the wiser at what he was doing. Conrad nodded before slaping the charts back shut.”Yeah last time was a big failure, so as I understand we are trying to repair your leg first before trying to find that ship again.” Conrad grinned at Trios. “And yeah I said we, I'm coming with you again this time, make sure ya don't piss of any more gods, one curse on me capt'n is enough."

[Trios]

Restoring the hat back onto his head, Trios gave one finally calculative glance at the bird. Trios really had no idea why he hated the thing, but Trios didn’t want to say that openly in front of his new crewmate. So the question of “Why” he hated the evil bird wouldn’t be answered at the moment. However the comment on spitting in a gods face was going to be addressed. The memory of meeting the hurricane form of the god of storms brought about a sinister smile on the Isur. “ I don’t ask ya to understand my thinking. Yes it is true I guess I do owe the Storm god for sparring me that day, but I’ll pay him back by proving my words someday….he’s already got a spotlight on me with that mark-o-his…be a shame not to give him a hell of a show! bwhahahaha” Trios ended his speech by hobbling closer to Conrad to require the charts from the boy’s hands. The Isur didn’t personally hate Zulrav and his ilk. Trios just didn’t care for gods and the idea that they could hold so much power and control over ones life. “And you don’t have to worry about me doing that again, once is more-than-enough when it comes to what I pulled out on the sea of grass” Trios said bemusing in his deep booming voice as he patted Conrad on the shoulder with tremendous force. Placing two of the charts underneath his muscled arm Trios awkwardly opened the last showing many circles and marks. “I know we’ll get a healer lad, that’s for sure….but I want to show you something first.” Trios turned his cold glances form Conrad to the opened chart in his hand. Most of the maps information was still jargon in Trios’s head but some of the basic information was easy to deduce. Coast and fathom lines were about all that Trios could make sense due to his sailing experience. “Stumbling through the infernal grass last time made me realize that once we find the bloodycraft I can’t fix the damn thing with grass can I. It’s gonna take a fair bit of timber, so were going to have to patch up the wholes and sail it across the large river to Falyndar either the main land or the islands dotting the coastline.” Trios’s rocky index finger traced an invisible journey across the large river separating Falyndar from Cyphrus. Thinking about the navigation hurt the captain’s brain slightly since it was a skill that the Isur had no experience in. Looking over the information Trios saw the marked shallow waters where he was certain a ship could be wrecked in. “Depending where we locate the Infortunatous ship well tell us where to go from there, because I highly doubt were going to make a long cruise in a patched wooden tub” Finished Trios rolling up the map and tucking it under his arm. Planning this journey out required so much forethought than Trios had given the first time. “Now back to the issue of my leg…I have no bloomin clue on the people in this city. You’ve spent more time with these Horse people than I so your guess is better on where these marked healers are lad…” Ended Trios leaning against his cane to relax the strain on his wounded leg.

[Conrad]

Conrad rolled his eyes at trios' words. “Well thank aquiras that I don't understand your thinking, because the day that I do I know my magic made me go all soft in the head!” He said a nervous smile on his face as he handed over the charts. Almost doubling over from the force of the pat on the back trios gave him a few moments later. “Well look at that.” Conrad managed to groan out. “Seems like you began using that brain in your head for once.” he decided it was best to humor trios on that account, the guy was more stubborn then a drunk mule for gods sake, though his smile eased up as soon as trios said he wasn't going to do something as stupid as that ever again. Walking around the isur so that he could get a better look at that chart trios was showing him. Conrad just sighed at his captain's attempt to open one chart while keeping two others under his arm while at the same time balancing himself with that walking trunk he had. “Just gimme those two charts captain before you drop them in the dirt.” He reached out and pulled them out from underneath the isur's arm. Before stowing them under his own and looking over Trios' shoulder at the map he was looking at, wondering what the strange isur was planning this time. Only barely making out the edges of the landmasses in the mess of lines, both original and added,on the chart, and only then because trios was pointing at the landmasses when he called the names. “Well it seemed like ya thought about this a lot better then the last time, at least, though if ya wanna go and try to find the boat by land again better get that idea out of your mind, in the winter there might have been a few animals hibernating but now every damn beast out in the grasslands are trying to take a bite out our behinds and no way that we are going to be able to drag along enough wood to give that ship a temporary fix to get to those woods in falyndar. So we better use a boat or something, gives us a lot of room for more supplies to.” Conrad threw in his own few ideas as he heard and thought about how they where going to do this. “Though I got to warn you though, I know absolutely nothing about sailing or fixing ships so unless you teach me I'm useless on that part captain.” he admitted in an embarrassed tone. Quickly chaning to subject to where to find a healer. “Well most of the healers around here are from the opal clan, so we probably should ask around that place first, be warned though those guy's are also the biggest god lovers around so don't begin spouting your philosophy to them.” Conrad shrugged. “Just lemme get my tent and other stuff first and put it up here while you are still working with your tent. I don't want to drop you off at the healers, afterwards I probably won't find your tent again when its becoming dark and I can't leave ya alone with those healers, you probably would kill them.”

[Trios]

“Why did you think I was in Riverfall lad? Just wondering aimlessly just for giggles? You took the words out of my mouth with that boat idea lad….and if you keep callin me captain I might just give you a good position on my ship” Chuckled Trios darkly as he rolled up his chart before gathering the other two from Conrad’s arm. Once the charts had been gathered Trios casually hobbled back to his campsite continuing to listen to the human. “The only problem is that canvassing the harbour for a ship can only get you so far, I have no idea about Riverfall’s laws or them blue bastards that populate that damn place” Grunted Trios ignorant to the fact that his own skin was a lighter shade of blue compared to the Akalaks. Sitting down by the large mound of equipment Trios traded the maps for a large container of water tacking. Tacking a greedy swig of the liquid Trios then glared at Conrad. But this issue regarding his internal knowledge on Riverfall was next to nothing. Sure he had heard rumours on how the city operated and the people within. Finding a way to steal or acquire a small sea vessel would require more time to gather information or the use of a local. Luckily for the Isur a man by the name of Conrad was a perfect fit for the last option. It was good to have at least one willing full person to give up some decent information that could lead to a decent plan of action. “I’ll worry about the repairs and sailing, you just worry helping me get the small ship. I didn’t get the full idea on how Riverfall operates to make a decent plan. I have a few ideas but lets just say I don’t like the odds of them” Frowned Trios scratching his deep blue beard. Quickly Trios thought about cutting the infernal thing off, but growing facial hair was a lengthy process for an Isur as Trios found out. It’d be a shame to simply cut a ten year project. Grinning manically at Conrad’s fear of the prospect of what Trios would do if left alone in the presence of devout deity worshiping individuals. The idea of having the attention of more than one deity at this time would be suicide to which Trio then concluded that it would be best to not go around needlessly killing worshippers. “You go get your tent; I’ll finish pitching my tent ….maybe get a fire going. Not like I can go anywhere fast at the present time” Finished Trios tacking a glance at the sun’s rapid slow decent from it’s noon position. It’d be short of a fools chance if the duo were to find a healer in Endykas capable of magically healing the wound, but there was nothing to lose as well. It was almost take a fool to not realize that attempting to play the long shots isn’t a wasted effort.

[Conrad]

Conrad couldn't help but scratching his scar in embarrassment when Trios mouthed him of for assuming that he was just in riverfall for an entire season or more just for shits and giggles. “eh.. of course not captain, I am completely sure that you spend your time in riverfall in a way that was only productive to your plans.” with the way conrad said it though it was hard to tell if he was jerking trios's chain or apologizing, the smile that was on his face could both be mischievous and apologetic. “And I guess I'll keep calling you captain then if it can get me a better place on the ship then the deck scrubber. Never was that good at cleaning up messes other then mine anyway.” He said as he followed the hobbeling trios towards his pile of equipment. “Well I don't know to much about how to get a ship and the things surrounding it, I'm a local though and I know a few akalak who live there who wouldn't object to me asking around for how to go about getting a ship.” He ignored the glare trios gave him, not even trying to figure out why he was given one, if you tried to figure out that blue rock only madness would be the result of your efforts. “But if you need any other information I could most likely provide it, I know my way around the city and where to buy most of the supplies, I bet I could get the both of us some temporary jobs to get enough money for a small boat and the supplies, not to mention that if we work in the harbor for a while it wouldn't be to long before we knew all the rules and laws for getting a ship worked.” Nodding when Trios said he would worry about the repairs and how to sail a ship. “Well you can run those plans by me later and I can help you out on how to even those odds of getting a ship a bit. He raised an eyebrow at trios when the isur grinned like a maniac as he mentioned his fears. “Right that smile is the reason I'm not thrusting you with worshippers of any god, if I turn my back for a moment You'll probably piss of another god and get another tattoo branded in your skin.” He poked his little buddy back away. “While I'm gone you keep an eye on the captain so that doesn't do anything stupid will ya?” As the parrot let out a happy squawk he lifted of his owners shoulder and landed on the mountain of equipment that was strew around the little place where trios had decided to pitch his tent. Before he turned around and ran of to get his stuff however he dropped of the charts he was still holding at Trios's backpack and gra grabbed a bunch of nuts out of his rucksack and shoved them in the isur's free hand. “Just keep him occupied by giving him some nuts, he won't do anything annoying then, though since he is a bit fond of you I doubt he would try to drive you insane anyway.” He said that with a big grin on his face and promptly turned around and hurried towards his former campingsite. A few chimes later conrad arrived back at trios's place. Hoping that he didn't take to long and that trios had pissed of a few passing drykas. That did like something his captain would do.