Just Hanging Here [Closed]

[Leviathan]

Day 33 of Summer, AV 511 Night, Dark Robern Dalagner's Gallows (Outside of Rotten Mansion) PCs Present: Darik, Annassena, Essik Posting Order: Leviathan, Darik, Annassena, Essik

Robern was a cruel man. Everyone knew this, yet there were few who knew it better than the Daggerhand. Robern's soldiers of thugs and sellswords littered the streets of Sunberth like a plague of rats, except these men were hardened killers, murderers, rapists, slavers, thugs. Each one of them had proven himself as a killer before accepted, and most of them had proven themselves ten times over. Tonight, however, there was a single man that knew Robern's wrath even worse than his Daggerhand. And he was swinging by his neck off of Robern's favorite tool of death. The Gallows. The noose was set up so that the man would not choke, nor his neck break. He wouls roast in the sun's fury by day, freeze by the moon's fury at night, and slowly die of thirst and hunger. It was cruel, but it was the life here in Sunberth. Outside of the gate to Robern's Mansion sat three of Robern's Daggerhand guards, a pile of armor and weaponry sat in between them, and they were shooting dice for claims over everything. More likely than not, that gear belonged to the man dying ever so slowly with hands bound behind his back, and neck swinging from a pole several feet above. Every now and then one of the patrolling Daggerhand, there was at least one though he faded into and out of the shadows and darkness of the area as he walked, would spit at the suffering man, jab him with an insult, and laugh as he wandered off to be engulfed by the night's darkness and city alleyways. This was the man's second night to be hanging up there. He wouldn't leave too many days longer.

[Darik]

Darik decided to fulfill one of his Sunberthian duties. There were relatively few of them but less is greater in this situation. The most important job as a Citizien is to chunk things at unlucky blokes in the gallows. He didn’t do it for himself. No, he did it to help Sunberth become a better place. Who am I kidding, he got sadistic joy from throwing things at people that can’t block. Anyway, he needed practice throwing stuff, he wasn’t very skilled at anything relating to a projectile. It didn’t matter that it was going to be dark by the time he got there, he could tell if it hit if the person made some kind of sound. He prepared by gathering some suitable stones from the back alleys of Sunberth. Trust me, there’s a lot of spare rubble.. As such, Darik ended up with a pile of stones that reached almost to the top of his head. Darik didn’t realize how foolish he was being, walking with a lot of objects in darkness. And Darik definitely didn’t have night vision. He picked about half of the rocks he gathered and started to walk. By the time he reached the gallows he was considerably sorer than he started. Also he was missing a lot less rocks, he had maybe eight or ten now. He let all the rocks tumble to the ground when he reached the gallows. A new idea dawned on him, he hadn’t had much entertainment. He was poor so he couldn’t visit Brega or any other source of entertainment. However, a man on death row has to have a story or two. It’s not like they have anything else to do. “Hay you, why are you here” Darik asked not caring what the reply was. It really didn’t, any answer would satisfy him. He lowered himself to the ground waiting for the man’s answer. Realizing that the man might be a chit-chatter he laid completely on his back starring at the stars.

[Annassena]

Watching from the shadows, whispering to the darkness, Annassena observed the man's life wither away hungrily. He would freeze. He would burn. No matter what, he'd be edible to the end.

Her bright green eyes settled on a rather odd man, and the long body of the Dhani, the naked, hairless serpentine creature of nightmares, stirred slowly. The man was carrying a rather odd load of what would appear to be rocks to throw at the dying man on the gallows, but he didn't even throw them! No! Instead, he began to speak to the man as though the rope holding him up allowed for speech!

Annassena hissed something in snake-tongue, a word of laughter, before gliding nearer under the cover of darkness, shadows flitting around her to help her remain hidden at her pleading. Her crossbow clunked as she moved, but when she settled all went silent again.

She wanted to see if this boy was answered. Of course, if the man was in any condition to reply, it would mean a particularly tasty meal delayed, but that didn't matter. She could always eat a rodent elsewhere.

[Leviathan]

Darik did look ridiculous, maybe like one of the several children that found pummeling dying men who couldn't defend themselves was enjoyable. Was Darik really any but a kid? When Darik arrived on the scene, with however many stones he decided to drag all the way to the Gallows, the darkness had already settled, but thanks to two spare torches burning brightly on either end of the gallows, the man could be seen in the orange flickering torchlight. "Why are you here?" Darik's voice wasn't loud, but he could see well enough that the men who were gambling over the mound of armor and weapons perked up to see him. One of the men growled and stood up, and approached Darik at a fairly leisurely pace. Long before he reached Darik, the hanged man manage to cough and even, oddly enough, chuckle painfully. "I know something they don't want me to know." How vague, but that was the only answer Darik got before the Daggerhand guard was standing in front of him. "Get outta here kid. The Boss doesn't want anyone messin' with this man. You can throw shyke at the next bastard Robern hangs eh?" The guard roared into a fierce laughter as he gently pushed Darik, turning him around, and pointing him in the direction he came from, before returning back to his own game of dice. He obviously wasn't being too cautious in making sure Darik completely left. The Dhani had yet to be observed.

[Darik]

The man was a man after Darik’s heart. Just like him, he laughed in the face of incoming danger. Unlike the man however, he never got caught. Especially in a position that was inescapable. Seriously, even a master thief couldn’t escape from restraints like. That is, without help… No Darik wouldn’t help this man, Robern was someone you didn’t disobey. However, this man might know something that could bring him riches. Ohh, the choices a thief has to make. His choices were chosen for him when a daggerhand walked in front of him. he blocked his whole view, because he was about a head taller than him. Darik slightly protested all the man lifted him up and turned him around, why did he get turned around like a kid when he was obviously a adult, albeit a small one. He didn’t outcry too much though, the Daggerhand appeared in a good mood right now. Darik seemed perplexed at the man’s attitude, he watched men hang for unjust reasons. How could he live with himself? Darik followed the man’s till he was hidden by the night’s darkness. He took a quick back and something surprised him. The man had stopped paying attention to him at all drawn into his game. That was odd, wasn’t this guy guarding a high quality prisoner? Or he had been lured into a false security because no one had ever escaped from the gallows before. Probably the second one, who would, dare cross Robern? He needed to continue talking to the man though. He may have some ripe information for the picking. Would these be that hard to distract? They seemed big, but not very smart. Always worth a chance. How though? It occurred to him, this place was surrounded by houses. Maybe if he threw stones at the houses, it would draw them to the area. But then he would have to get back quickly without being seen. Too much work. He had a much better way, engage in a conversation with the man while hidden. Much easier than coordinating a distraction. When he was away from the torch’s flickering flames, he laid on his belly. This wasn’t going to be fun, not even in the slightest. The ground was the complete opposite of gentle rolling plains. So uneven terrain, lots of loose gravel, and no cushioning whatsoever. This was probably going to be one of his worst ideas ever, but this was an adventure that would gain him valuable knowledge. He shouldn’t get caught, because the stage should block him from view, but just in case he had an excuse. A very convincing excuse by Darik’s standards. Ohh shit, he’s screwed if he’s caught. Darik started his descent towards the gallows. One arm after the other hit the dirt road as he pulled himself another inch or two. It was immensely tiring. Even though the night was cool and refreshing, sweat had already begun trickling down his eyebrows into his eyes. His whole approach would’ve seemed pointless to passing bystanders. They would say, why not run and do a quick swan dive? His reply would be there was a chance that the Daggerhands would see him. He doesn’t want to mess with those guys. Better go slow and steady instead of fast and death. With a groan Darik realized he was half way there. Already his muscles were trembling with efforts. Urghhh, this was going to be one long night.

[Annassena]

"He knows a secret..." Annassena said softly to whatever stirred around her. How tantalizing! A secret that those who hanged him don't want others to know! Now, Annassena wondered what to do. Should she still let the man die, and take his knowledge to the grave? Or should she remove him from Dira's grasp for but a little while until he told her what he knew. She had to think, and while she did, that little man was removed from out of her sight. She didn't care. As long as he didn't interfere, he was below her notice. She had found something much more intriguing than a little man.

The Dhani just had to figure out a way to remove the hanging man's honour guard. The way her eyes worked, showing the body heat of living things, allowed her to see that there were at least four men present, one of which was patrolling, but there could have been more.

With another stirring of her large, sleek, pale body, Annassena stirred to turn her attention to the three dividing armour and weapons. Her forked tongue snaked past a lipless mouth as she tasted the air. She pondered how to get rid of them without endangering herself needlessly. Well... She wouldn't be averse to endangering herself as well, but if that secret the man knew was not worth a near death experience, she'd eat him alive.

She wasn't paying attention to the movements of the other man. Her eyes were on the three sorting through gear. She could use some armour, and whatever Mizas they had. They couldn't be that difficult, could they? She lifted her crossbow to point at the man nearest to her. She'd have to go by ear, to turn a phrase. Risks or not. There was gold to be had, armour to be worn, and a secret to be told of.

[Essik]

Essik hated watching these things. He hated the way that Sunberth acted. He hated those who controlled it and had their bidding done through the use of sheer brute force and intimidation. It was not the means of running a city. At least not running it right. But then again, Sunberth had never been run right. So, there needed to be a show now and then to illustrate that there were some in the city who wouldn’t sit back and let things happen the way that the sniveling, petch-faced scumbags who ran the city wanted them to.

Essik knelt low on the roof of the building across from that shyke filled mansion that Robern called his home. He knelt in the deep shadows of the night, ensuring that the light of the city would not silhouette him out against the backdrop of the city. The building he knelt on was only single storey, as opposed to the larger buildings behind him which were two or three. So the looming shadows of the larger structures would ensure that he was well concealed. Even so, he made sure he was a few steps back from the very edge of the building, and he remained low to the rook, crouched down in a kneeling position until it was time to strike.

His hood was pulled up over his face, concealing the skull faced mask that covered his features. Essiks fingers flexed around the grip of his short bow, one of his broad head arrows already knocked against the string. Essik was in full gear, ready for anything that might come his way. He’d spent the day sharpening his throwing daggers and the blades of his broad heads. He’d ensured that his spring blades were sharpened, oiled, and working properly for if they were needed. His bowstring had been freshly waxed and his darts had been tipped in their poison only just before he’d let his house not even an hour ago. He was set for what he would need to do.

Essik had no idea who the man was or what he was doing hanging there, but Robern wanted the man there, and that was enough for Essik to act. But before action could be taken he needed to watch more. He watched the guards and their gamblings now and then but paid the most attention to the patrolling guard as he moved around the area. He wanted to be sure that there were only 4. 4 guards, with a good element of surprise and some carefully planning wouldn’t be too much of a challenge. The patrolling guard would likely be the first to go. A well placed arrow at the furthest point of his patrol, not too far from the house Essik knelt on, would see him down with a minimal chance of the other guards hearing it. And if they did, he could vacate the area before they got to it, giving him a good distraction.

But that was before the civilian showed up. Essiks head turned as he watched the man approach from along the alleyways. This was definitely a hitch in his plans. The boy was apparently looking for a good bit of fun tormenting the hanging man. Essik clenched his teeth tight, watching the boy walk over and deposit his load of rocks to the ground. This was the kind of thing that Robern wanted. The masses to humiliate the tormented man before he finally died of dehydration and exposure. Vagrants like this boy were the ones who gave Robern power. Not the sword wielding thugs. If the city were to decide that Robern needed out, the Daggerhand wouldn’t stand a chance. It was just the measure of getting the city to realize that it didn’t need men like Robern.

Still, Essik watched as the guard came over, ushering the boy away with quick measure. Apparently this man wasn’t going to be tormented like so many others had before. That meant there was really something interesting about this man. Something Essik mght be able to use. Oh…. This was getting better all the time. But Essik continued to wait for the moment, careful to watch the actions of the guards after the brief intrusion. He wanted to make sure everything went back to the way it had been before acting. And he still needed a little more time watching the patrol, picking out any distinctions in the faint light that might clue him in if it happened to be more than one person walking through the gloom…

[Leviathan]

The night continued to creep by in its painfully slow manner, much like Darik was creeping across the ground as if he was a reptile. Though it seemed to work for the most part. The Gallows were blocking his view of the gambling Daggerhand, so he couldn't be sure if they were moving or dicing, but he heard nothing from them except moments of laughter and light-hearted insults. Although Darik couldn't help but go pale as he did hear something, eerily close to his person. A quick look around would show, only inches in front of his face was the largest, nastiest, one-eyediest rat he had ever seen, and despite being massive and obviously dire, Darik could see the figure of bones under its patches of lost fur. It was hungry, and was trying to judge whether Darik's nose was edible or not. But what wasn't edible to rodents? If Darik planned to get away from the rodent, he would need to be faster than crawling on his belly. This is, of course, assuming he was even worried that the rat would attack him in savage attempt to sate its hunger. As Annassena watch from the alleyway, the very shadows decided to speak to her. They were bored, tired of waiting around, and it was all quite obnoxious to be honest. "Snake-woman, give us blood." The muttered and whispered, making the silent night, at least to her, very loud and cluttered. The Shadows could be a blessing, but to befriend a shadow you had to treat it like someone with little patience and a high demand for simple desires. Entertainment, money, fine wine, gossip, and so on. Now they wanted violence. Luckily, or perhaps not, she didn't have to look far, because before she even had a chance to detect him, he was knocked to the ground with a massive headache, vision that instantly jumped to blurry with lightning sparks fluttering to cloud what little she could make out, and her crossbow was sent skittering across the ground, making plenty enough noise to attract the gambling men. They didn't get far before letting out some cheering battlecry as Annassena was lifted off the ground by another man, a fifth guard, and judging by the seven foot size of this man, and his obvious blue skin, he was definitely an Akalak. Without the assistance of the torches, he was nigh impossible to see in the darkness of the city. Essik saw all this, and for just a moment, he could have sworn he saw the giant look up, directly at him. Normal eyes, surely, would not have been able to spot him in the lightless rooftops. But the Akalak didn't spare a second glace. Maybe he was just looking in the general area, coincidence that it was his area. Well, regardless of this, as Essik continued to watch for the fourth guard, the first patrolman, he was caught by surprise as the dilapidated roof gave out under his pressure. Rotting wood creaked and shattered as Essik fell through, landing, thankfully, on a well-worn bunk, and unfortunately, on the man already lying there. The man squealed as the assassin smashed into his bunk, and once again the floor screamed in pain as bunk, the man, and Essik fell through one more floor. Essik's body was wracked with pain, yet excluding the ring finger on his right hand, which was had broken backwards sometime during his two sudden fall-throughs, he wasn't injured. The man he fell on, well he was unconscious now, perhaps he passed out from fright. Essik was now inside a house, ground level once again, and with an obviously broken finger. Broken windows and a doorless entrance to the home gave a perfect place to observe the Gallows and the gambling guards, who had by now met up with the Akalak who had a pale woman (Annassena) slung over his shoulder. "What did yah find us, Jamikaran?" "This woman had a crossbow aimed at your petching head." This obviously wasn't a favorable position for Annassena.

[Darik]

The night was the closet thing you could get to a living nightmare. First a roof shattered. The sound frightened Darik stopping him in his tracks. Had he been spotted? No, just a lot of debris colliding with the ground. That’s actually beneficial, more cover. Ohh, and a woman had been caught by a tall man. Or was that a hallucination? Most likely, due to his lack of food he was susceptible to massive illusions. Man, he wanted to eat. He wasn’t the only mammal that wanted to have a good meal. A rat, larger than normal ones, waltzed up to his head. ” Shoo, go away ratey, leave this nice big human alone.” He said in a calming voice trying to suggest it attack an easier target. The rat didn’t listen to his advice. It must be an adventurer just like Darik. Sadly, they have different definitions of an adventure. The rat leapt straight towards Darik’s nose. Oh noes, he didn’t want to become Voldermort! As such he performed the trunk lift maneuver. The trunk lift is where you lift your head neck, and torso without raising your legs. He cheated though by using his arms to give him extra height. Because he performed such an advanced maneuver you would think he would have taken the whole situation in silence. Nope, he screamed his head off. He liked his face in perfect order. “AHHHHHHHHHH” He screamed as the rat flew under him. Its barley missed latching onto Darik’s neck. Luckily it didn’t, because it would have been quite unpleasant. The rat must have been surprised that it had missed so it gave Darik a few seconds to react. He used his hands for balance, so he could move both of his legs under his stomach. The rat then tried its attack again this time aiming for his knee. Luckily, Darik had natural defenses against rats. It’s called his foot. Darik kicked out with his left foot, just in time for the rat to hit it. Because of Darik’s weight compared to the rat’s he won. The rat dropped backwards momentarily stunned. It was time for Darik to act. And act he did. He stood up feeling all of his muscles protest. He dodged the rat but at a cost to his body. He was throbbing all over, but he needed to get rid of the rat. He bent over to pick up its pink tail. When it was in his hands, he leaned back and picked a target. He could either throw it at the hanging man, or the guards. He still had a chance to get out of this place alive and with no maimed body parts, so he chose the man in the gallows. He leaned back and extended his arm forward, sending the rat flying in the air. He had such terrible form the rat could go anywhere. As long as it was away from him. “Ewww, rat stuff.” As he observed his hand he realized it was disgusting. That’s rat’s tail shed some unpleasant stuff on his hand. He bent over and rubbed it against the ground trying to get the stuff gone. After a few seconds, he raised himself into good posture. When he rose, he saw the guards staring at him. “Pay no attention to the short guy that radiates awesome. He started to take side steps towards the gallows inconspicuously. He needed to continue his conversation with the man. Information was extremely valuable. Darik just hoped the men didn’t run after him, they should have bigger problems to face.

[Annassena]

"Mnnn. I'll give you your blood, sweet darkness." She chuckled and literally salivatated at the thought of fresh blood. Her long finger tensed on the trigger for her crossbow, but a sudden massive weight flew out of nowhere on to her.

Annassena hissed in shock before her jaws were clamped shut and her head flared in pain. Her crossbow skittered away and her tail flailed as the giant of a man, this Akalak, stood over her. Anger flashed in her and she hissed loudly, enraged that a man would have jumped her without her being aware of this, and she would have struck had she not been stunned senseless for a few chimes. The shadows seemed to laugh around her as she was hefted up into strong arms by the massive Akalak and slung unceremoniously over his shoulder. She exhaled loudly as air was forced out of her lungs, then forced a steely chuckle.

"Ah. But I wasss only pointing my crossssbow at your head becaussse I thought it was ssso beautiful and I wanted to bring it down to the realm of normalcy." Her Common hissed past her maw, her fangs retracted for speech in the Tongue. Whether she was mocking or flirting was up to debate, as she spoke with both lilts in her voice. Next, she directed her words to the tall man hefting her around and spoke in a silken voice, although it still hiss unnervingly. "Won't you put me down, brother Akalak? I promisse to play nice."

The hissing cadence at the end of 'nice' drew out oven longer as the Dhani extended her fangs and bit into the closest piece of Akalak to her, her hands gripping on to his hair or ear and pulling as she kept her fangs buried as deep as possible in this son of Akajia's flesh. Even as she bit him and spilled his blood for the shadows to lap up hungrily, she felt that she had wasted something. The Akalak was a son of her own Goddess. She hoped Akajia would not be angry with her for the snub. It had to be done. She had to bite this man.

Now she was ready for his reaction, her long tail swishing through the air, the strong coils tensed.