[Baroque Bay] Salvaging the Future (Open)

[Zenai]

Season of Fall, Day 35, 511 AV

Zenai looked at Carsten and Carsten looked at Zenai.
“You sure?” He raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Petching sure.” Carsten spit.
“I’m sure you’re mistaken. Perhaps another…?”
“There’s no other.”
“It couldn’t be only me, right?”
“Guppie, why don’t you take my word for it?”
“I’m just saying-“
“You don’t trust me, do you?” Carsten shot him with a narrow-eyed glance.
“I do. I do. It’s just that… this is all going too fast. I mean I only been here for almost a week and you suddenly told me this so excuse me for being a bit of a skeptic.”
“Well, it is the truth. It’s just the matter of whether or not you accept it.”

Zenai gave himself time to absorb information. It almost sounds impossible. Something you would read from a novel. Could Zenai be this lucky and what are the consequences? Zenai shivered, not from the cold of the coming winter, but knowing somewhere in Sunberth, Rykol is planning Zenai’s demise. That dragoon wouldn’t be so happy with it and most likely he’s going to kill Zenai for it. Still, what’s done is done and Zenai can only accept the fact that has been laid out to him by Carsten. It’s not often enough that Zenai would be in this kind of situation for him to just accept it like it is. Sometimes, life is just more wonderful and horrible than it seems. Zenai had actually avoided talking about that fateful day for more than two weeks. Sometimes, memories are best locked away while some are better out in the open as a reminder.

Raynor, Daggerhand Captain of the Sea Tarrif's Keep, had saved Zenai’s life and Zenai was very grateful to the captain. Maybe when he has a chance, he would go and thank Raynor. Perhaps when he is done with his “contract” with Old Leg, Zenai would offer his servers to Raynor. In the meantime, Zenai has almost healed of all of his injuries during his first day on the job as one of Old Leg’s Taggers and being beaten to a pulp by a Dragoon named Rykol. Hopefully, Zenai wouldn’t see Rykol for a very long time, maybe until Zenai is better in skills than Rykol himself. Zenai walked with Carsten during the early morning to Old Leg’s Wharf where Zenai have been for the last two weeks and done his assignments without further harassment.

When they arrived, it was pretty much the same scene every morning for the last two weeks he worked as one of Old Leg’s Taggers; a company worth of guards would have taken a colored tag each and waited around Old Leg’s giant board for their assignment. Zenai being a Tagger in another sense followed Carsten as she gone and took a blue tag with the number, 18A. Supposedly, no one but Old Leg would know what would the colors and numbers on the tags would mean thus keeping the assignments as random as possible so there’s no way for any would-be traitors can plan a heist. Too many chances to end up escorting a wagon full of manure and other less-than-valuable products. There’s no way any of the Taggers could effectively plan a hijacking unless Old Leg would have plan it out on his own but that wouldn’t ever happen since Zenai had heard tales about his leg.

“Ooo… Blue and 18 and an A. I wonder what that means.” Zenai asked cheerfully.
“It means this would be our assignment whatever it may be, Guppie.”
“Oh right, random assignment, random guard and et cetera. Got it.”
“That’s right but this time, Guppie, be a little bit smarter.”
“Got it, sera.” Zenai gave her a salute. “Looks like we’re next.”
Carsten, followed by Zenai and the rest of the Blue Taggers, walked up to Old Legs.
“Ah, well if it isn’t the Guppie. Glad you can make it. I was about to send the sharks after yer but I see that my River Shark has already dragged the Guppie already.”
Zenai explained, “I wouldn’t miss this job for the world. Anyway, it’s not like I have anything else better to do so I thought I keep coming to work and work off what I owe you.”
“That you do, Guppie. That you do.” Leg took and inspected the tags. “Blue, 18A. Well, well, well, it’s your lucky day, Guppie. This job is so easy, even Lug can do it on his own.” Old Leg thumbs at the big Tagger that Zenai somehow has failed to notice.
“What’s the job, Leg?” Carsten asked.
“Simple. You know the storm last night? Well, looks like wreckages and bodies of some poor ship and her crew had washed up on the bay. I want your group to take a wagon and salvage everything and anything interesting. Petch! If you can find a trunk full of gold mizas, all the better! Got it?”
“Sounds easy enough.” The Guppie commented.
Old Leg nodded. “It does but look out scavengers and maybe chase them off. I’m not gonna share the loot with those kinds. Alright, get going! Don’t want the good stuff to be taken.”
“Alright, you scums, let’s move it and head to the beaches. You two get the wagon. The rest follow me! Your hips better in good shape. I can feel we’re going to do a lot of lifting and carrying.”

Other than Zenai and Carsten, there was Lug and two other Taggers Zenai couldn’t name. They walked towards the beaches where the wreckage would be. A little bit later, the two unknown-to-Zenai taggers brought the wagon and they all hop on. Carsten sitting next to the driver while Lug and Zenai sat in the back with the other tagger. The wagon shook and bucked as they travelled down toward the beaches, Carsten occasionally “shooing” people away that got in the wagon’s way. Zenai took the chance to examine his comrades especially Lug. Lug was a big guy. Very big indeed and not too smart looking. He didn’t know whether Old Leg was just joking with Lug or stating out a fact about Lug. Zenai didn’t want to judge; everybody has their merits and for Lug, he looks like a strong guy and very useful when they need to lift something heavy to get to a more precious item. Furthermore, Lug didn’t want to kill Zenai. That’s big yes for Zenai. Zenai looked out of the wagon and watched the sun rise over the horizon and hoped that this day on the job would go as smoothly as the last two weeks.

[Zenai]

They finally got down to the beaches where the majority of the wreckage and debris had washed up. Zenai didn’t know Sunberth had a beach but then again, he was too busy doing his business inside the city of Sunberth and everything else on mainland. Zenai liked neither the sea nor the beaches too much; it was much like the wildlands except it was wetter and you needed a ship to cross it. Furthermore, if your ship sank for one reason or another, you will mostly likely drown or be eaten by the myriad of sea monsters. The latter would be likeliest of all in the end. As for the beaches, it was like walking on more dirt than you would see in Sunberth. More dirt means more dirt getting into his boots and his pants which makes him uncomfortable. You also had crustaceans that would crawl into your crevices.

“Look, over there! See those vultures carrying that trunk?” Carsten pointed. Zenai looked at where Carsten pointed at and saw two scrawny boys carrying a chest of sorts. Whatever it is, it is now the property of Old Leg because Old Leg said so. “Come on, Guppie. You too, Lug. Draw out your blades and yell at them.” Carsten jumped off and was followed by Zenai and Lug. They ran towards the two with their weapons drawn. “Get out of here, you petchers! That chest is our’s!” Carsten declared, waving her sword in the air. Zenai didn’t feel like doing it since Lug is doing a good job on his own. Lug seriously frightened Zenai, and the two scavengers, with his size and loudness. Zenai thought he was some kind of whale-man but less whale and more man. He also had a massive axe, way bigger than any would use normally see. Lug waves it violently in air and Zenai ducked a bit in fear that Lug would accidentally decapitate him. The scavengers, having seen Lug and Lug alone, dropped the chest and immediately ran away from them. “Haha, did you see that? Those shykes just turned tail and ran. Good work, boys. We now claim this loot in the name of Harry the Leg!” Carsten puts her foot on the chest, declaring it to be Old Leg’s. “First salvage of the day. Lug, carry this to the wagon and ask those louts to hurry up. We got a whole lot of beach to cover and a whole lot of salvage to salvage.” Lug “ugh!” as an affirmative response and carry the chest off the ground easily before carrying it over his shoulders and jogging to the wagon. “Come on, Guppie. We’re going ahead and scout the beach for more loot.”

Zenai nodded and sheaved his weapon. They went ahead of wagon since they could move faster than the wagon on the beaches. There was clearly evidence of scavengers, other than the ones they had saw and scared off earlier, being here. Footprints and drag marks were everywhere. Zenai was a bit disappointed at the prospect that some have already run off with first pickings and usually first pickings are where the good stuffs are. “Hey, Guppie; look alive. Looks like we got a few more scavengers to deal with.” Zenai saw what Carsten saw; a group of four scavengers lifting a big and heavy crate across the beach. “Come on.” Zenai followed Carsten as she charged down the beach, her long sword drawn. Zenai had his talons sword drawn as well. As they got nearer and nearer, the scavengers caught wind of their charge and dropped the crate before getting ready to engage them. Two of them took out their daggers while one had a short sword with him and one more had sickle. Carsten stopped just before them. “Get out of here. This crate belongs to us.” The scavengers warned. “Petch off, you bums. We’re claiming this crate whether you liked it or not.” One didn’t wait for the negotiations to come to an end and charged Carsten with his dagger. Carsten easily parried the stabbing attack and punched the scavenger in the jaw. “Get stuck in, Guppie!”

Zenai didn’t have time to get into his fighting stance and before he knew it, Zenai was being attacked by a dagger and sickle. Zenai blocked and dodged their strikes but he had to be careful with scavenger with the sickle as he can disarm Zenai by hooking onto his sword and pulling it off his grip. Truth to be told; after having exchange blows with the scavengers, Zenai concluded that they were quite amateurish. Zenai, sensing that he need not waste time, quickly dispatched the two scavengers. He had the advantage of reach and skill over the scavengers. Zenai fired his own flurry of attacks, keeping the scavengers on the back foot. One weapon fighting one opponent; Zenai uses stabs, slashes and cuts to keep the scavengers busy while he got into position. His opportunity came; one tried to take a stab at Zenai but the Tagger parried the attack and then kicked him into the sand. Now, he has both his blades to disable that one scavenger with the sickle. The sickle came at him via a downward cut but Zenai was able to block it with his right sword. The scavenger then pulled on his sickle, hoping Zenai would lose his grip but Zenai had anticipated and went along with it. Using the momentum, he threw a punch and a kick into the scavenger’s face and stomach respectively. The combo attack hit the scavenger hard and he rolled over backwards a few times. Zenai then sensed one of the scavengers coming from behind him. Zenai side stepped to the right and turn on his toes. The scavenger almost fell over as his target wasn’t there to be stabbed. Zenai brought his sword to bear and slashed at the scavengers back. He then fell over in pain along with his sickle-buddy.

Zenai took a moment to see how Carsten is doing. She was doing pretty well, having already knocked one out unconscious while she was finishing off the other by slicing off the poor scavenger’s hand that was wielding the short sword. Zenai then looked at his opponents as they got up to engage Zenai once again. “You guys better run or you will end worse than the rest of your buddies.” Zenai threatened. The two scavengers look at their comrades who were already lying on the sand. After a moment or two, they started running but not before collecting their injured and running off with them. “That’s right, you vagiks. Get out of here!” Carsten shouted at the fleeing scavengers before sheaving her long sword so she can inspect the crate better. Zenai also came to see what’s so special about the crate. “Guppie, get this open.” Zenai complied by using his sword as a wedge to open the crate. Once a breach was opened, Zenai sheaved his own swords and used his bare hands and strength to open the crate. After a few grunts, Zenai opened it enough for Carsten to see what was inside. “Hmm… looks like someone wanted to start a band.” Zenai looked inside the crate himself and saw that it was full of a variety of musical instruments. “Let’s hope they’re still playable. Okay, we will wait for the wagon before moving on. Good work, Guppie. We showed those scavengers who is the boss around here.” Zenai simply nodded and thought of the earlier fight he had. Was he in the right? Perhaps. This was Sunberth and it is finders keepers. Still, it left guilt in Zenai’s heart but at least, he didn’t kill them. Most likely, they would come after Zenai for revenge. Let them so he can kill them out of self-defense thus he was in the right to kill them. Made sense right?

[Antar]

From up the beach aways from all the hustle and bustle a heavily armed and armored man lay crouched over the gunwales of a beached rowboat.

A dead body lay at his feet, stripped of all valuables and he'd even taken the officer's uniform the man wore. But what really had caught his eye was the float bladder , the goggles, and the most important thing the man had on him, a compass.

It was made of excellent quality steel and lay heavy in his hand as its small needle rotated towards the north and south lines. It must have been the dead man's most prized possession aside from the ship as on the inside iof the outer brass case of the compass a small engraving showing the seas and calm winds seemed to denote a passing idolotry of Laviku, the sea god. Not that it had helped the poor man or his crew. But he couldn't determine if it was really his crew there was no sign of rank upon him. Perhaps he could be first officer? Antar didn't know, he just knew there was a mystery, and he liked solving mysteries.

Several of them were lying facedown on the beach here. Dead from what he could not tell and it was a mystery to him. There were signs of jetsam and flotsam tossed by the storms but something seemed... off here. A few of the sailors seemed wounded, as if in the night at sea something or someone had attacked them. He'd fired a few arrows off to discourage anyone from interfering in his study of the bodies, and soon had gathered up several sets of shirts, fishing hooks, and about three daggers. Out of curiousity for the mystery at hand, Noth had tested to see if the daggers would fit in some of the others knife wounds. Sure enough they had, but why?

Was it a mutiny of some sort? Whatever the case, it intrigued him. Not only that but he noticed the sailors wearing the same type of boots, and before the scavengers a pair of feet had stumbled away from the dead captain and towards the city.

Why though? What could be so worth it for a survivor to kill one's crewmates and try to get into a city? He couldn't think of anything in particular, but whatever it was had to be valuable. Though value was all relative when you thought about it. In Sunberth, life came very cheap.

The rowboat was here, the wreckage of the ship farther down, beached upon the bay shore, and behind him was his wagon was at the ready with his horse harnessed at his head.

As soon as he heard the ruckus down the beach of what looked like some thugs coming up the way towards him he pocketed the compass and took out his bow. Notching an arrow to the string he quickly fired a warning shot about ten feet away from him, keeping it in line with the others he had used to mark out the killzone as he considered the conundrum left to him. The rogue waited a little, reknocking another arrow as the man and woman seemed to come a little closer. His eyes just silently stared at them through the black mask he had bought this morning. The cowl of his robes masking the rest of his features.

He didn't want conflict here, but if the pair did try anything then they'd certainly be in for a load of trouble...

[Zenai]

“One, two, three!” Zenai counted as he lifted, with his legs, the crate with another tagger. With grunts and effort, they lifted the crate full of musical instruments onto the wagon. Hopefully, Old Leg would be pleased with their loot and would be able to fence these items as extra bonuses for Zenai and his group or Old Leg would make Zenai learn how to play a musical instrument. Zenai hopes the latter is not very likely. They pushed the crate inside the wagon to make sure it wouldn’t fall off. Carsten and Lug went on ahead to find more treasures while Zenai escorted the wagon with the other two taggers. The wagon had to stick to the more solid part of the beach otherwise the wagon would sink into the sand from the weight of its content. Don’t want to salvage the wagon as well since it would be a waste of time.

Zenai then jumped into wagon and tried to open the trunk they’ve claimed earlier as per Carsten’s orders. She wanted to check the contents since they didn’t have a whole lot of space in the wagon itself to carry everything of value back to Old Leg so she had to prioritize. There was a lock on the trunk so Zenai jumped off the wagon for a bit to find a good solid rock to bash it open. After a chime, Zenai finally found one suited for the job and ran back to the wagon. Hopping aboard, he got down to getting the trunk open. It was difficult to actually hit the lock because the wagon would shake and jolt. After taking careful aim and compensating for the turbulence, Zenai smashed the lock with the rock a few times. He then checked whether it was still locked and after inspecting it, Zenai concluded it just need one very powerful strike before it breaks open. He raised the rock high above his head and brought it down with every ounce of strength he can muster. Sparks flew as rock meets metal. Zenai inspected the lock again and it was loose enough that he can just pull it open. He then opened the trunk with a bit of strength and he found a trunk full of exotic furs and fabrics. The ship that had sunk must be carrying luxury goods for a wealthy merchant. Darn those rich people… Zenai mused but it was a good thing in a way. More valuable items mean more mizas to be gain.

“Watcha find, Guppie?” Zenai looked up at whoever asked him the question. It was Carsten back along with Lug with another chest full of goodies. “Furs and fabrics that would make all the ladies swoon at the man who had these to give out.” Zenai answered honestly. “Petch! We must be picking at the mother lode. Alright, inspect this other chest then catch up to Lug and I while we head down further to keep looking for more loot and chase off the buggers trying to steal it.” Carsten said while Lug dropped the cheat onto the wagon and went off searching for more salvage. Zenai simply nodded before getting to work opening the latest chest to be opened. Like before, Zenai bashed at lock with his rock until it breaks open. Inside was an assortment of lock-picks, thieves’ tools, daggers, cloaks and things a spy, thief or an assassin would need. Zenai’s heart skipped a beat; could they have been looting a wrecked ship carrying shipments for the Night Eyes? This better be coincidence and he hoped Old Leg would know what to do with these items.

Done with the task Carsten had handed to him, Zenai got off the wagon and jogged off to wherever Carsten and Lug are. Zenai heard something to his right where beyond would be Sunberth. Looks like the scavengers had caught wind that Old Leg’s Taggers are in the area and have run off with whatever they have even if it’s nothing. Zenai wondered if they would all band together to face the Taggers in an all-our melee extravaganza. Yeah, they could try and Old Leg would go after them with whole company of his Taggers. Though Old Leg’s Taggers were not as powerful or numerous as the Daggerhand, Sun’s Birth or Night Eyes, the Taggers were a faction in their own right. They’re tri-partisan that Old Leg had to deal with so there was some sense of order within the docks. Too much chaos and businesses would take their trade elsewhere. So there’s Old Leg bringing in the Taggers so maintain order at the docks while the Daggerhand controlled the shipping in their own way. The Night Eyes had their own business within and without Sunberth while the Sun’s Birth had their own enclave and their own set of businesses. All had a stake in Old Leg’s Tagger operations or so Zenai had heard.

He then found Carsten and Lug who seemed to be resting against a rock. Are they having a romantic discussion? Zenai laughed out loud. Yeah, right and Bob would grow taller than Zenai. An arrow then struck the ground before Zenai who then jumped for cover behind some rocks. He peeked out and saw what Carsten and Lug was hiding from. A dark cloaked and masked figure was out in the beach, obviously doing the same thing as the Taggers. Zenai could also see the almost-full wreckage of the ship as well as its crew. He must be looking for something. There’s also a line of arrows on the ground between him and the dark ranger. It must be a borderline of some kind to keep out undesirables so he or she wouldn’t be interrupted while (s)he picks at the bodies and salvage. He seems not hostile enough to kill them and Carsten chose a more defensive response to avoid being killed by an arrow out in the open where there’s little cover to be had. Even though there’s one of him with a long bow, Zenai was pretty sure he can easily shot all of them down before they could even get to him. They would have just to wait and see how this ranger responds to their defensive response. Hopefully, he goes away.

[Eridanus]

Eridanus walked along the beach, the turbulent waters crashing upon the shore while the beach was semi-filled with activity. Looters, scavengers and many of the denizens of Sunberth there just to watch the show were present, all of them scurrying back and forth looking for things they could use. A few others seemed to be there in organized teams, scaring off the loners with their numbers and weapons, ignoring the little trinkets they could loot off the dead bodies presumably in search of a bigger bounty. He was mostly left alone, probably due to the fact that all he was doing so far was walking about calmly with an interested expression on his face and so the other scavengers just took him to be one of the onlookers who were surveying the aftermath of the storm. The two long swords strapped together in a parallel order like a pair of oversized chopsticks behind his back probably did wonders in deterring any unwanted advances as well. He did not bother the others, and they were quite content in minding their own businesses as well. A sparkle caught his eye, maybe a result of an object with a shiny surface reflecting sunlight, and he walked closer to the shore line. He crouched down, clearing the sand from the reflective object and his hand hit something moist and soft, and he automatically recoiled. Reaching forward again, he brushed more sand off and found a shiny steel dagger embedded into what seemed to be a portion of a man's torso. The ends of it seemed to have been severed quite unevenly, and he knew from instinct that it could not have been done by any weapons, for blades would have evenly and neatly lopped off any body parts in a clean line. No, the way his entrails and the remaining bone was positioned seemed like this poor soul was gnawed off by something in both directions at once, and Eri hoped that for this sad guy's sake he was killed instantly by the dagger before he got summarily dismembered and consumed by whatever it was that chewed that bit of him off. He shuddered at the thought of the myriad of strange and fantastic sea creatures that he did not definitely want to meet at all costs, which was why he could not really understand how the pirates operating in the Suvan Sea could stand being on a boat and around such danger so often. He pulled out the dagger and wiped it on the sand, whistling appreciatively at its fine crafts-work and he sheathed it in one of the many compartments in his belt. A few of the other scavengers already began eyeing him in suspicion and they fervently scanned the area for any treasures that they could lay their hands on before the Vantha did. As it were, he found himself laying his eyes on a chest, along with quite a few others. He could see the rest quickening their pace towards the potential treasure out of the corner of his eyes, and he slowed down to a stroll, wondering how the inevitable clash would result. Like he expected, the loners were scared off by a scavenger party of about four people who drew their short swords menacingly. Waving them about was enough to convince the loners to find other loot and they quickly gave the area a wide berth. Eridanus did not stop, however, and he soon found himself and the scavenger party in the empty radius that the other denizens of Sunberth were giving the four men brandishing their sharp weapons. "Get the hell out of here", one of them warned the Vantha, swinging at the air in front of him to emphasize his point. "Free land, ain't it? You don't own this place, and I don't. Which makes it equally accessible to both of us", Eri called out, intentionally provoking the man. The sun was making him tired and grumpy, and he was not going to just submit to someone without lawful or divine authority just because the other party had blades. The man seemed slightly surprise at how one person dared to stand up to him, and he spat in the sand in front of him, motioning to another man as they both approach the Vantha with their swords drawn to scare him off, while the other two remained at the chest to guard it from other opportunists. Eridanus sighed, and he observed that most confrontations in Sunberth tended to end up in violence. He was in an irritable mood, and these people were not helping. It was not often that one found him so disagreeable, and he felt some sort of need to violently express his foul mood. He drew both his long swords swiftly, one blade in each hand, and he assumed a practised stance facing the approaching men, the ease of his motion making one of them pause as if to reconsider his options. The scavenger looked at his buddy, and they probably decided that they could take down the swordsman two-on-one, and they continued to approach him. Eridanus knew that he would get overpowered if the two managed to catch him in a pincer attack, and he began to sidestep, lining up the two such that one would always be blocking the other, using the very same tactic he used when outnumbered by beggars when he first arrived at Sunberth. The scavengers swore and they tried to reposition themselves so that they would not be blocking each other, and Eri responded by side stepping in the other direction. It was easy for him, for he merely had to strafe in a semi-circle, while the men had to readjust their positions in other to face him head-on. As he did so, he whispered a short incantation that helped him to focus the djed streams within and felt strength filling up in his upper torso. He cut the flow halfway, not wanting to drain too much energy from his legs, and he suddenly changed the direction of his side-stepping, leaping forward in a nimble motion catching the men by surprise. He used his steel sword to slice at the first man, and he blocked that attack with his weapon. However, Eri's unnaturally charged strength was far too superior for the man's defensive attempt, and it brought both blades dangerously close to the man's body, the scavenger's arm trembling as it tried to push against the overwhelming force that Eri was pinning him down with. Easily, he thrust his cold-iron blade towards that man's midsection and, without a way to parry that attack, Eri heard the familiar soft snickt sound as his blade ran half its length through the man's belly, the guy gurgling as blood began dripping from his mouth. The other human gasped in surprise, and the other two guarding the chest began to approach as well, intent on destroying this new stranger who attacked their comrade. Eri kicked the gasping body off his blade, and he leaped back to survey the incoming trio. This might be a little difficult to handle. He continued to sidestep, and he was glad at the freedom of movement that the wide expanse of this beach afforded him. Making sure that the men remained lined up respective to him, he kept his prancing about unpredictable as the scavengers swore as they tried to re-position themselves so that they could attack together and not one by one. Eri was precisely trying to prevent them from doing so, and he feinted right, causing them to quickly re-position themselves to face his new position. As they did so, the low-commitment of his feint allowed him to fully commit to a leap in the opposite direction, and he kicked the sand off as he dashed forward, brandishing both his blades like he was a moving whirlwind of steel. His target responded by blocking his attacks with his blade and stepping back, but he soon tired from the expenditure of energy as the superior strength of Eri's Flux-enhanced body soon wore him down, and the Vantha ended their short bout by savagely rending the man's torso deeply, the scavenger collapsing as if he was an unsupported rag doll. The other two looked at each other and then looked at Eri, by now the Vantha had a cruel grin on his face and his eyes were madly flashing from one colour to the next. It was clear that they were dealing with a madman, and Eri began to feel his inhibitions of killing decrease, and as he approached the two like a predatory Zith he casually plunged his blade downwards through his first target's gasping mouth, ensuring his death. The careless brutality of Eri's actions and his mad flashing eyes helped the remaining duo decide that their lives were more important and they fled. When the threat left the area, it was like a spell was lifted from the Vantha and the hazy vision that clouded his eyes seemed to clear. The crowd around him gave the immediate area he was in an even greater berth due to the violence and some even began eyeing him with a terrified glance, scurrying away when he glanced at them. He was being treated like a monster, some sort of pariah, and it made him wonder why. He was the one being attacked, after all. He closed his eyes for a second, willing his pounding heart to slow down and felt a strange ache in his heart as his body slowly calmed down from the conflict, the djed streams resuming their normal flow around his body. If one were to notice the Vantha, they would see the man's shoulders droop in relaxation and when he opened his eyes they would notice that his eyes would be of a single colour. If they had realized the changing colour of his eyes before they might attribute it to their own imagination, for clearly this man's eyes were of a single and unchanging colour now. Eri trudged over to the chest and sat on it to recover from the battle, surveying the scene and he found a cloaked man firing an arrow from his bow. There was a wide berth around this man too like Eri, but this circle was quite clearly marked by a series of arrows embedded into the sand. He glanced on curiously, wondering what the man was scavenging for.

[Dhalvasha]

Sun had a certain unalienable effect on carrion, even that which protected itself with the monotonous surf. Even had he not been looking for bodies, the aroma of soaked meat filled the air like a cloying gauze. Flesh, sea salt, and blood, a palatable odor and one almost soaked into the docks of Sunberth.

Here on the bay, Dhalvasha was a ghost, a phantom blazed in white and delicately meandering his way toward the scavengers. He made no effort to hide himself, finding the notion ludicrous. Symnestra were painfully visible by daylight and the beach lent nothing to natural camoflauge. He would have to bank on the rarity of his kind and the rumors that one had taken up residence with the only doctor in Sunberth...doctor defined loosely. There was a certain immunity in that status...few wanted to anger the only medical professional in Sunberth and Dhalvasha had, of late, proven himself to be the less fatalistic of the two.

His research required living patients.

Often times the Doctor's work eliminated that distinction.

Most of the bodies had been picked clean, even the weapons buried in their bloated skin had been plucked. No matter. A scant few hid treasures in the strangest of places, last ditch efforts to keep their belongings away should they survive.

The symnestra could concentrate on a cavity search later, but for now his interest piqued at cause of death. Bodies were hardly in rare supply where Sunberth was concerned, but it wasn't often anyone cared enough to dredge a drowned man from the waves.

In Kalinor, death by downding was something of a rarity. Studying the effects of prolonged exposure to water was part of his expanding research. Admittedly, he hadn't a clue what it had to do with curing his people of their fatal birthing procedures, but a comprehensive knowledge of biology may yield surprising results.

As the fool humans circled each other, raised their hackles, and vied for pointless dominance over scraps, the Symnestra detached himself from the general group and leaned over one of the bodies. The man was fair haired, distantly staring to some nothingness where the dead were like to go, his body practically bursting with the process of decomposition.

With his index claw, the surgeon made an incision from the base of the neck, across the sternum, to the groin...drawing lines of murky water and coagulated blood at the edges of his mark. He repeated the process thrice before he had enough depth to remove the exterior epidermal layer of skin and take a look at what secrets simmered within.

He was a morbid sight, but his medical bag was near at hand. Injuries from scavenger cat-fights would be treated in return for some of the scraps. It helped that few of them had enough know-how to treat knife wounds and broken bones. Hopefully he would be unmolested for his observational dissection, at least by virtue of his use to them.

A crab lunged at him from the victim's right lung, afraid that its home was being invaded by some larger predator. Dhalvasha writhed away from it, his pale red eyes widening as other creatures came to life within the corpse.

Problematic, indigenous life was actively working to ruin his autopsy.

Calming his nerves and throwing a cuationary glance to the scavengers, Dhalvasha muttered to the animals quietly in Symenos, urging them to leave their meaty homes and scuttle toward the open water. He layered his voice in Djed, hypnotically suggesting their home was not safe, appealing to the innermost sanctum of instinctual safeguards.

A stream of life shuffled from the body under Dhalvasha's urging, each tiny aura pierced surgically by the lilting whisper of his voice. They moved with sluggish apprehension at first, finally settling on a new destination in a nearby corpse rather than risk their lives in the one Dhalvasha examined.

Turning up his nose, the Symnestra cursed the damage already done to the water logged organs, slicing connective tissue and depositing the larger ones on the beach. Decomposition had buoyed up this corpse, the creation of warm gasses in the natural entropy process...interesting.

Removing his journal, the Symnestra wrote quick stilted notes on his observations, absorbed in his silent acquisition.

Around him the living squabbled.

But the dead were polite.

They never complained.

[Antar]

Note to all playersSince Zenai has some extra people in here, I imagine you'll have to do a post, negotiating, or getting past each one till you find a captain near the main wreck XD. That should make your job quite easy. I figure after one interaction post with zenai , each other pc should each go off or continue on our own arcs (after giving him a clue about what happened on the ship from our own character's perspective), To keep it simple, let's keep it at 4-5 posts maximum each (save Zenai) for this thread as a whole. That way, Zenai completes what he has to accomplish what he needs to for his job thread (which is investigation and salvage) Sound good?

Smiling widely at the guards who gave him a wide berth, Antar would turn and finish hoisting the rowboat onto the wagon and moved away to where he had aligned his arrows in a short line. One by one he pulled them from the sandy soil and placed them back in his quiver before turning towards the taggers behind the rocks.

The events upon the beach so far intrigued him, and his mind still wondered what could have been worth betraying one's entire crew enough to ditch them and run back into the town proper. Waving politely to the group of taggers he slowly began to walk his horse away , to not impede their approach towards the main wreck further. If he read the boot heels right, at least two people survived this affair, one which ran further down the beach towards the wreck, and the other one who posed a mystery he wanted to solve. It was an interesting conundrum to be sure, and one he would work on... after he returned his horse and wagon back to the camp.

Walking swiftly with one hand on his sword, Antar went past a hunched figure dissecting a body on the beach and what looked to be another mercenary of some sort. He gave each a respectful nod in turn before doubling back to lead his horse on the far side past the Tagger's rock. Pitching his voice a little lower to obscure it the rogue smiled a little under the mask and yelled, "Thank ye kindly Ser, for not ticking me off today. In return for not bothering me further, I'll tell ya' a tip. It looks like one survivor of the wreck went thataway if you want to track 'em down. From the knife wounds it looks, like some of the poor bastard's killed each other in the end."

Without another word, the rogue turned towards the city and trudged away. He'd make a quick stop back at camp to unload his newfound rowboat before he went hunting for a different sort of prey...

[Zenai]

The mysterious ranger left and politely excused himself when he has found what he was looking for, a rowboat. Zenai got up from his hiding spot and went over to Carsten and Lug. “Did you believe the nerve of that petcher?” Carsten complained as she got up from hiding behind the rock. “Yes, I believed that mysterious ranger had the nerve to fire arrows at us.” Zenai answered when he came over to check on his group leader. “He was nice enough not to kill us. Not something you would see every day in Sunberth.” Zenai added, looking at the bright side. “You have a point and he didn’t make off with much. He only took a rowboat. Why does he need a rowboat? You know what? Never mind. Let’s get back to salvaging. Hey! Hey, you! Get out of here. This is our salvage! Lug, Zenai, come on!” Carsten ordered, weapons drawn to scare off the scavengers having rushed into the area where the mysterious ranger had only been examining just before he left. Like before, the Taggers waved their weapons in a threatening manner and shouted threats against the scavengers to cut off their limbs. Most ran with whatever they were able to grab while a few stood their ground against the charging taggers.

Carsten pommel strike one in the skull with her long sword and followed it by a punch in the gut. The scavenger collapsed into the ground, bleeding from his head wound. Zenai knee-kicked one in the groin who then released a howl of plain; the scavenger fell face down and lay on his sides. He clutched his manhood and moaned in pain. Lug bulldozed three scavengers like a charging bull. He sent two of them flying through the air while one bore the brunt of his fists and was knocked out cold. He then grabbed the unconscious one and threw him away like a child bored with her doll. In truth, Lug didn’t need to do all that but he did it anyway and the remaining scavengers collected their knocked out buddies and headed back towards safety. Only a few with stronger constitutions stayed on the beach but were also not willing to engage the taggers on their terms. Just as long as they stayed of their way and not taking the good stuff, Zenai was happy enough to them have the leftovers. For now, the shipwreck was theirs for the taking.

“Zenai, Lug, we’re going to explore the wreck while the others keep watch and scare off anyone thinking they can pick at this wreck before we do. Go it?” The Taggers nodded, a simply task but not necessarily easy. While two taggers guarded the wreck the best they can, Carsten, Lug and Zenai entered into the corpse of the ship through its ribcage. The shipwreck lay on its side exposing its underside or whatever you call it in proper naval term. Zenai wasn’t a sailor but he would probably need to learn a thing or two about naval terms and terminology. Thanks to gravity, everything fell to the side or the floor currently. Smashed crates and bodies were about. Zenai breathed through his mouth so he wouldn’t smell decay. Even then, he could taste the rot. They fanned out to cover more ground. It was obvious that this ship was carrying construction materials. Blocks of marble stone was leaning against each other. All damaged and most would have sunk to the bottom of the sea. He also saw some bricks of various metals. On their own, there weren’t valuable but when forged by a competent blacksmith, it could turn into a valuable product like tools or weapons. Like the stone marbles, most were missing from their crates. Most likely claim by the depths too. Those materials that were left are either too heavy to lift or were low on a street value per weight basis.

“Looks like a shipment of raw materials to Mura on the Konti Isle.” Carsten suddenly came up behind Zenai with Lug. “Wonderful. More trash for Sunberth as if this city needs more of it.” While Carsten made an educated guess on the ship’s origins, Zenai spied something under a pile of rubble. Zenai approached the rubble and begin to clear it. “What is it, Guppie? Is Timmy trapped under that pile of rubble?” Zenai pause his work to answer Carsten, “No, I think it’s just another chest full of goods. You are free to help out of course.” Carsten then came over to aid Zenai in clearing the rubble. Tossing the marble rubbles away, Zenai’s hunch was proven right; another chest, though damaged, was found but it was stuck under a marble block. “Lug, lift this up while we pull the chest out.” Lug came over and tried to lift the marble block. The giant grunted and roared trying to lift the marble block. Despite his strength and effort, Lug wasn’t able to lift it by himself. “Guppie, add your strength. Perhaps we need a bit more strength just to lift it slightly high enough for me to drag it out.” Zenai wasn’t the strongest man in Sunberth but it wouldn’t harm if he tried. Putting his fingers under the marble block, Zenai could already felt the weight and density of the marble. This was really heavy but Zenai convinced himself that it was a state of mind. If he thinks the marble block is light and he himself is strong, he “could” lift it with Lug. Lifting with his legs as always, Zenai counted, “One, two, three, lift! Argh!” Zenai and Lug lifted the marble block with all their strength. Zenai repeated a mantra in his head. I can lift this. I can lift this. I can lift this. I. Can. Lift. This! Lug also used his own technique but it was mostly putting more strength into his lifting technique. At first, nothing happened and the marble block didn’t budged at all. “Put more effort into it!” Motivated by Carsten, Zenai channeled whatever strength he had in reserve into his legs. It was then the marble block lifted a little. “That’s right. Just a bit more then I can pull this out!” Zenai and Lug tripled their effort. Zenai’s vein can be seen popping and the muscle is protesting against the strain on it. Just a little more. With that thought, the marble block lifted just a breath higher but it was enough for Carsten to pull it out quickly. Zenai and Lug then jumped back, letting the marble fall onto the ground. The marble broke into several more pieces. It didn’t matter since they got the chest. Hope the effort equates the rewards they would get from the chest.

“We did it! Haha! Good job, boys.” Carsten cheered for her subordinates. Zenai collapsed and sat on the floor. His legs demanding that it must shut down for a bit to recover from the exertion. “Give me back that chest, thieves!” Zenai heard an unknown voice. He turns to the source of the accusation; it was a man dressed in a finely made blue long coat and what’s look like a captain’s hat. He was also pointing his rapier at the three of them. “Give it to me or suffer the consequences, wretches.” The man repeated his accusation. Carsten then answered the accusation, “Who are you calling a wretch? Get out of here. This here is the property of Old Leg now.” The man just laughed as if he was talking to madmen or he was a madman himself before he introduced himself, “I am Captain Morgan Stanley of the Zeltiva Merchant Ship, Suvan’s Tears and I ask you again; release that chest into my possession or face the wrath of my rapier!” Zenai got up to join the stand-off. Clearly, he was no scavenger and wanted the chest back really badly.

[Eridanus]

The masked ranger apparently seemed to be satisfied with whatever he discovered and he left the area, politely addressing the group that was pinned down from a distance for fear of being hit by the ranger's arrows on his way out. Eri shrugged and when he recovered his breath he stood up to take a better look at the chest that had been the source of contention earlier. Ignoring the bodies nearby he took a look at the lock that rusted from the storm and exposure to air, and he simply bashed it repeated with the hilt of his blade, sheathing it when the lock finally broke from the physical trauma inflicted. His heart beating in anticipation, Eri lifted open the chest only to find a bunch of ammunition and small arms, with some damp papers placed right on top of the pile and a bunch of pouches in the corner. Frowning, he grabbed the papers and tried to read the smeared ink, only making out certain words and numbers that might mean anything. He looked around to make sure that people were still giving him the wide berth that had resulted due to the previous battle and the presence of the two bleeding corpses nearby with sword wounds obviously inflicted by the two blades sheathed behind his back, he returned his focus once more on the stack of papers and he tapped into his djed, his senses tuning out most of external sensory information to concentrate on the paper. Lacking djed like sentient beings the aura it emanated was small, but it was enough for Eri who merely wanted to study its purpose. After a few chimes of intense staring as he furiously tried to grab enough information here and there, he finally reached a conclusion and he sighed, blinking a few times to 'power down' his magical sight. It was merely a ledger of sorts that detailed some sort of transaction between ports that the ship carrying this cargo had landed on. Still, there was an upside to this and that would be the pouches present in the chest that presumably contained the results of these transactions. He took a pouch and weighed it, hearing the metallic clinking of its contents and he simply took all the pouches, keeping them in the compartments in his pockets without looking at its contents. There was no need to openly show everyone that there were mizas to be looted from the chest and so he would check his spoils later in a more discreet place, for now just silently pocketing all the pouches he could find in the chest. He rummaged through the chest's contents, picking out a few of the better quality small weapons such as daggers and he slipped them into the small spaces in his sash-like belt that was meant for carrying such objects. After checking through the pile and swapping out pieces of equipment for better ones that were shielded from the effect of the wear and tear of the storm and the exposure from the pile of equipment above it, he closed the chest in satisfaction, for he had a limited carrying space and he would only pick the best few items that he could find. Dusting his hands, he whistled and walked on, signalling his further disinterest in the chest which prompted the rest of the scavengers to look at him warily as he exited the 'kill-zone', clamouring for the chest and its contents when they had determined that the Vantha had no intention to return or to exact violence upon them. He looked forward to find the same group of people who were being held down by the ranger's storm of arrows, and there was a jolt of recognition as he saw that his friend Zenai was one of them. So this is his job, huh? Walking forward with the intent of greeting his friend, he found himself baffled as the group walked along the shoreline to a part of the beach that was blocked from view by a piece of cliff that jutted out. Curious, the Vantha followed them, rounding the corner to find a massive shipwreck. It was intriguing how the looters had not found it yet, though they might very well have but discounted it due to the possible dangers of entering such an unsafe structure, choosing to occupy themselves with the safer alternative of looting the corpses and spoils that washed on shore. As he approached the wreck, for Zenai's group had already entered the destroyed ship to look for anything of value that they could take away, he found a lone man dressed in a fine blue coat wearing the triangular hat that seafaring captains wore that signified their station running to the ship from somewhere, addressing the group quite desperately. Eridanus sneaked forward, taking care to remain unseen as he focused on this man, the stench of seawater instantly invading his sense of smell as he magically focused on his aura. He could instantly tell that the man had been in a storm and survived from what he could 'smell' on the man's aura, though common sense also told him that. He squinted at the man, and from the bits of information that he could pick out along with the man's hat and ragged finery that he was the captain of the ship. The man began acting in an agitated manner, and Eri frowned as new pieces of information made themselves available as the captain's aura revealed his desperation to the Vantha. He saw Zenai stand up along with his comrades who seemed to be in some sort of stand-off with the captain, and Eri shut down the flow of djed that powered his magical sight, striding down briskly towards the group of them, waving his arms to at least momentarily defuse the tense situation. "Now now let's all not get violent here, shall we? State your case, Captain", he nodded towards the man, for he already knew of his occupation by reading his aura earlier, "and we'll see if we can settle this all nicely with talking, eh?" Eri knew that his appearance was probably a bit sudden, but his offer of being a mediator might hopefully prevent some bloodshed, and might possibly give a little insight into this situation, for he was a curious individual and was also probably doing it for the sake of finding out more about this mystery more than to avoid bloodshed. He looked at his friend, hoping that Zenai would help to defuse the tension on his comrades' side so that they could get to talking part instead of the 'drawing swords and killing each other' part.

[Dhalvasha]

This man had perished of poison, the discoloration of his lungs suggested more than simple drowning, and although small, preliminary examination revealed a puncture hole in the small of his back. The venom was familiar to the Symenestra, having studied it in Kalinor before. A strain of Monstrous spider venom that arrested breathing. No doubt this man may have survived, but was likely pushed overboard to aid in the murder. Clicking his tongue sharply, Dhalvasha withdrew his claws from the body and dusted sand from his garments. Evidently foul play had something to do with what had occurred, but it was hardly his prerogative to bring justice to the dead.

Folding his hands behind his back, the Symenestra followed the far off Vantha with his eyes, noting the quick and incisive cuts to exterminate other scavengers. Striding behind him, always at a distance that made doubling back pointless, Dhalvasha examined the blade's handiwork up close. Other scavengers pushed and pulled at the chest, looting the material within. Dhalvasha paid them no heed, tracing a claw along the cuts as his mind calculated how fast they had died. Morbid, but fascinating all the same.

Leaving the bodies, he passed around the edge of the beach, observing the stand off between the blue coat human and the other scavengers. It was hardly his concern, attention more directed to the listing ship. Opting out of direct confrontation, the Symenestra passed along the beach toward the boat, scaling its side with eerie grace.

For a moment, he had debated whether exploring the deck was an intelligent decision. Most bodies would have been washed off with the storm and what was left was likely food for the gulls. Nevertheless, Dhalvasha was motivated by simple curiosity. Hand over hand he crawled up the side of the boat, his natural abilities and light weight affording him little trouble. To any watching, the Symenestra would have cut a disturbing figure...but Dhalvasha was not interested in the scavengers, more dedicated to discovery on top of the boat.

Scaling over the railing, he dusted wood matter from his hands. A few bodies remained caught in the boat's rigging and ropes, swaying gently at the whim of the sea. To them Dhalvasha was only examining with a cursory eye, noting any obvious injuries while relieving them of uneeded supplies. Mizas mostly, a few weapons strung out between them but nothing specatcular. They'd fetch a pretty miza in the market, perhaps enough to bolster his dwindling medical supplies, or perhaps to buy that book on Shielding he had his eyes on. For a Symenestra, applications of Djed were less overt. Their slight frame made it nearly impossible to defend oneself...a blow from an Isur alone would shatter them completely. Shielding would be a logical practice to look into, had he the time, but secondary to his research.

The sound of shouting drew him to the edge of the deck, looking down on the scavengers with mute interest. The property of a chest belonged to he who could pay with the most violence...the fact the Blue coat man was still alive was nothing short of shocking.

Perhaps he was just very intimidating.

Settling beside the sun bleached body of what appeared to be a deckhand, Dhalvasha switched perspectives between the argument and dissecting the poor man, only half-heartedly searching for cause of death. This dissection was more a catalogue of organs and bones, further anatomy study for his practice. All else was just a bonus.

Sunberth, if anything, had no shortage of bodies.