Bad Wolf (Paragon)

[Eridanus]

Three slavers - or so the wolf claimed - stood fussing about in front of the caravan. Their tough rugged form and expressions reminded Eridanus of the Daggerhand thugs back in Sunberth, though he'd be damned if he made a judgement based on appearance alone.

As they approached the caravan, the wolf told the ethaefal that it would leave the talking to him, and he nodded imperceptibly. The men seemed slightly flustered at this sudden appearance, and though their eyes were immediately drawn to the huge wolf at Eri's side, they were also drawn to the two long swords strapped in his weapon harness on his back.

Eridanus had a plan, though this was to attempt to prove that the wolf was correct and was the easy part. He had no qualms that there was a chance his plan might immediately lead to battle, but he tried his best to maintain a solid calm in his appearance so as not to arouse any suspicion.

Using his best innocent and sheepish looking grin, he channeled the full extent of his celestial glamor that his divine body granted him with regards to its effect on mortals, hailing the men, "Greetings brothers! I was traveling with a bunch of merchants a few bells ago, but it seems that I have gotten lost on the way. It is most likely that my compatriots are now pretty far away, and I spot that you have a caravan. If you do not mind, would it be permissible if I paid you some gold to hitch a ride to whichever city you guys are going to?"

As he ended his speech, he took out his money pouch and lavishly dropped the gold-rimmed mizas back to the pouch to verify his claim. It was likely that this plan would lead to one of the four responses that the ethaefal predicted, and two of them would lead to immediate conflict, one to inevitable bloodshed, and only one in peace.

If they were not slavers but instead had their greed aroused at the idea of killing him in order to loot the rest of the gold that he had, it would be perfectly permissible to get rid of these scum.

If they were slavers who were lured by the prospect of an easy target, all out on his lonesome, the wolf's claim would be right and he would have to defend his life anyway.

If they were slavers but had some vestige of honor and went along with his claim, he would gather information and find out that they were slavers anyway, and in the process of his cleansing would try to save as many innocents or those forced into the job as he could.

And only in one circumstance where they were simply ordinary adventurers like he, and though he would lose gold in the process he would be glad that their lives was not forfeit. If that happened he would most likely have a long and serious talk with the wolf.

[Paragon]

The three men stared at Eridanus, then back to the wolf, then each other as the Ethaefal's offer sunk in. Gold. Gold was worth dying for, and killing for to every man Mizahar-wide. "The wolf," the man at the front muttered, "why do you have a wolf travelling with you?" The wolf itself bristled, and then sat back, looking to Eridanus again. He did not speak this time, licking his lips thoughtfully. His fur burned a brilliant azure in the moonlight. One of the other men began to unsheathe a dagger from his belt. "You don't look like no merchant to me!"

[Eridanus]

The men seemed to have come to a conclusion on their own, and as one began to draw his dagger while accusing the ethaefal of not being a merchant, he sighed theatrically even as he began to move, shifting himself into a more advantageous position should he be rushed.

As he walked in a manner so as to bring his position such that the alignment of the three men would be perpendicular to the squaring of his own torso, his muscles began to warm up from the adrenaline at the thought of battle.

"Now now, I did not said that I was a merchant, merely traveling with one. Why are you drawing your weapon anyway?" Eridanus asked conversationally, as he tapped one of the two longswords strapped on his back to remind the overly eager man that a dagger was in every way out-classed by a longsword especially at this distance.

At this distance there was no need to draw his own weapons yet. Still, his experience of battle told him that the reaction and body behavior from these men were a sign that they were ready to shed his blood.

But he will be ready for the clash of steel.

[Paragon]

"You have a bloody great big wolf with you, why do you think!?" The wolf began licking his left paw disinterestedly, and when he was done, he made a start on cleaning the right one. Eridanus was left in an awkward situation, though he had his longsword skills at the ready. "So you're travelling with merchants?" one of the other men asked, "And you want to come with us? And the wolf?" For a moment, it seemed the situation had calmed. And Eridanus relaxed a little. But it was not to be. "Yeah, right, and I'm the Goddess of Winter." The man who had spoken first swept towards him with the dagger. Eridanus would have to fight this man off, though it was one-on-one, the other two men simply watching with smirks. They expected little of the Ethaefal, and they seemed to have forgotten the wolf's presence. Having finished cleaning his paws, the wolf turned to watch the fight, his blue eyes gazing at Eridanus' actions with interest.

[Eridanus]

oocNot sure how much control over NPCs I have, but since this is a modded thread, unless you say otherwise I'll assume that I have 0% control.

"Correction: I don't have a bloody great big wolf with me, it just happened to pop out while I was lost and wandering, y'know?" Eridanus replied.

"Don't you ever pay attention to what people say?" The ethaefal mentioned in a dramatically loud aside, as if he were in a play at the Crooked Playhouse in Alvadas. "I said that I was traveling with merchants, then I got lost, and since you can't really expect me to walk miles to the next city I said that I'd pay you to transport me there. The wolf can do whatever it wants really; we're not together, if you know what I mean."

It seemed that most of his words went across their heads, for a man scoffed unlikely.

"I'd be careful taking Morwen's name in vain, buddy," the leth-born warned, his vantha memories from his past life tingling with anger at these virtue-less scum even daring to invoke Her name.

It did not matter anyway, for the first man rushed forward with the dagger. Even though Eridanus had been trading trash-talk quite amicably, his body had been wound up tight like a spring, ready to snap at any sudden movement.

This was it.

At that sudden attack, the ethaefal's combat reflexes took over, and he swiftly drew his cold-iron long sword in one swift motion, slashing it downwards from his top-right to the middle of his front, while both hands held the blade steadily pointing forward while slightly aiming downwards at the shorter man's chest.

If the thug had invested all his movement in rushing forward he would have been speared by the sword, and Eridanus was completely safe for he was tactically exploiting the way superior reach of his weapon to the man's dagger.

[Paragon]

The man had not anticipated any level of skill from the Ethaefal. A gasp filled the silent night, the cruel sound of cold steel embezzled in flesh. The wolf's eyes widened for a moment, a touch of blood splattering his fur. It seemed to dissipate as it began to seep into his cerulean coat. He turned to Eridanus breathlessly. "It seems he acts without hesitation," the beast muttered, half to himself. The man slid back from the bloodied blade, collapsing onto the ground. Eridanus had taken a life in one fell attack. And now the other two men looked at him as if he were a wild animal like the wolf. "Think carefully on your next move," the wolf announced, "what do you truly know about this situation. Take stock, mortal."

[Eridanus]

If the man had not expected any level of skill from the ethaefal, similarly Eridanus had not expected such a total lack of skill from the man. His action had merely been one of reflex as a result of the assailant's sudden spring, not unlike the same way one flinches if a sudden projectile appeared in front of one's face.

From their attire, their behavior and their looks it was clear that these men were not your average defenseless non-combatant. It was evident that they had seen battle, and perhaps even taken a life or two.

Yet, this first man went down so quickly, leaving Eridanus quite dumbfounded. He had expected a parry, a dodge, or at the worst maybe a thrust in the shoulder or a laceration. But the poor sod was completely oblivious to the intricacies of battle, going straight and spearing himself on the longsword.

Thud.

The lifeless body of the first victim collapsed to the ground, and the other two beginning looking at the ethaefal with a new light. The wolf announced for him to take stock of the situation, and the ethaefal realized that he truly knew nothing.

Had the wolf somehow subconsciously goaded him to commit murder? He had not confirmed anything yet, merely that he was attacked by one guy. Perhaps they had been paranoid, seeing him as a sudden bandit. If they came from Sunberth such paranoia would be completely justified.

Eridanus gave a quick glance at the wolf suspiciously, though still keeping his eyes on the remaining two should they decide to avenge their comrade. Despite his uncertainty of the situation, battle was battle, and he would fight to defend himself and leave the philosophical musings for later.

"What is this..." the ethaefal muttered to the wolf, his voice trailing off as a sign of his uncertainty over the issue.

"Who are you people? Travelers? Merchants? Slavers?" Eridanus announced questioningly to the other two men in a loud baritone. He was no longer being subtle; he needed some form of confirmation. Some form of justification for a direction to take, for he did not like merely responding to situations. Unfortunately, he had to know what was happening in order to take charge of the situation.

He would not have thought twice about murdering anyone who posed a threat to him back in Sunberth, but now out of that mad mad city his mind had cleared, and some form of civilization had returned to him. He would still raise his arms to defend himself, but after that he would question himself quite intensely.

He needed some form of self-reassurance or justification for his deeds, lest he return into the amoral beast he had been centuries ago.

That was one thing he loathed.

The slippery slope must be halted.

[Paragon]

The two other men stared at Eridanus, taking yet another step back. They watched their comrade collapse to the ground, blood spurting from his chest most uncleanly. They looked to him again when he questioned them aloud. Eridanus didn't realise, but to them, he looked like some kind of madman. He stood, shouting, having murdered their comrade, with a larger than life azure wolf sat next to him. One turned to the other, face desperare. "Go see to the slaves, we have to bloody keep 'em untarnished, or they'll lose value like stale bleedin' bread." The man who chose to face Eridanus, dashed to the caravan rear, then returned. His dagger had been exchanged for a sword. Perhaps he would meet the Ethaefal on more even terms this time. "I'll defend this lot with my life, if I have to. I don't care who you are. And I don't care about that bloody great big dog - he just seems to sit and watch anyway. Come at me. You'll die as mercilessly as you just killed my brother."

[Eridanus]

It was not that Eridanus did not realize what kind of image he might be portraying to the remaining two men. He had lived on Mizahar for a long time, and he was a fairly observant individual. It would be more accurate to say that he did not care, for he was more interested to know how others act than how others think. He would only hold interest in the latter if it would affect the former.

His ears perked at the words one of the men said, and that put his mind to some sort of relative ease.

The wolf was right after all.

One of them dashed back to retrieve a sword, and it seemed that he would be Eri's next opponent. The ethaefal shrugged, "It's your funeral."

Keeping his senses alert in case the other man turned up with ranged weaponry or if someone else appeared to attack his flank or rear, he drew his other blade, easing into a practiced stance, his two swords protecting his body ready for both offence and defence.

Unlike his previous aggressive self centuries ago, decades of meditation had calmed his mind and personality somewhat, and this affected his combat style as well into a one focused on counter-attacks rather than straight out assaults.

Still, he edged forward cautiously, one blade at the ready to guard his body while he held the other one slightly out for offence. When he was within range, he jabbed the other word in a quick flurry of thrusts at the man's torso area, making sure to keep his attacks light to prevent over-extension.

[Paragon]

Eridanus assumed a battle stance, defensive with one sword, offensive with the other. The slaver parried his strikes, but attempted to push the Ethaefal back, further away from the caravan. Once he caught Eridanus' blade and managed to swing it to the side, in the gap he went to strike, but the Ethaefal had free reign over his defensive sword. As they shuffled further and further back, towards the copse of trees again, the wolf turned and watched, seemingly taking more notice once again. He was looking for a reaction. And he was also seeing if Eridanus would hear the rustle in the trees behind him in time. Ambush was always a danger in battle. One could become blinded by fighting their opponent, and not aware of their surroundings. But anticipation was key. What would the slavers do next? There were sounds coming from the caravan too. The third man, of who knew how many, was seemingly preparing to get moving again. And their panicked voices only a moment ago had described the slaves aboard. The wolf blinked twice, knowing of the situation he had pulled the Ethaefal into. Dilemma emerged from dilemma. And soon enough, Eridanus would be driven to a choice. And it would lie on the tip of a blade.