Open Starting a Riot

[Kaska Villahotes]

20th of Spring 513 Kaska settled himself in at the bar, his skinny form perched upon a barstool like some skinny bird. The air was thick around him with dust, a warning of the rising temperatures that would soon suffocate the area and make Kaska grateful that his occupation kept him naked half the time. But at the moment it was tolerantly cool, with winter letting up its iron grip on the city and the snows falling less and less. Kaska was still mindful of the sky and how the gray clouds could quite easily spell death for someone with his trade, but he could relax a little now that his coat kept him warm. The bar he was in could only be loosely termed such. It was a stand with a tiny bar roughly four feet long and a couple ragged stools in front of it. A shelf with glasses and brown, poorly made glass bottles made up the bartender's stock. The bartender stood behind the flat slat of wood that made up the bar and served drinks to people who could pay, using his body as the first line of defense against thieves. Kaska strongly suspected that the man simply waited for bars to throw out the dregs from glasses and simply gathered that up from the gutters and bottled it. It certainly tasted that way, and more often than not hairs and bits of dirt floated about in the drink. That must have been why no one bothered to steal from the fat old bastard. He ran his finger around the dirty rim of his glass, eyeing the small bit of whiskey inside. It was a hideous firebrand of a liquid and Kaska hated drinking it, but on a day where he just couldn't get warm enough like today, it was a welcome warmth in his belly. He slid his fingers around the glass and downed the centimetre or so of liquid inside, feeling the alcohol burn his throat as he swallowed. It disinfected whatever he'd had in his mouth that day at any rate. He listened to the bartender drone on and on, the man knew him and they'd established a bit of a comraderie. But Kaska was distracted today. His eyes kept roving away from the bartender's latest story about the crimes that happened around his open stand and to the surrounding streets. There was a tension in the air, something one could smell like a seaman sniffing out a storm. "So I told her to fuck right the hell....Kaska. Are you listening to me?" The bartender reached out and put his meaty hand on Kaska's sleeve. The catamite yanked his arm away and blinked at the man, as if awoken from a dream. "Yeah, sorry Baldur." he muttered. "You don't usually look for clients when I'm talking to you." Baldur said, frowning and picking up Kaska's glass. In true fashion he wiped it down with a rag probably scavenged out of a pile and stuck the glass back on the shelf. "I don't usually look for clients when I'm drinking. But I don't know, it's been hard lately. I only had two yesterday and one of them punched me across the mouth soon as he was finished. Didn't pay a cent." Kaska said. "Maybe because you haven't washed the ticks out of your hair lately. I'd want you away from me as soon as possible. Your hair crawls when there's no wind!" Baldur said, pointing at the mass of tangled auburn dreadlocks clinging to Kaska's scalp. "Very bloody funny." Kaska sneered and pushed away from the bar, lifting a hand to scratch at his head. He pulled his hand away and irritably squashed a louse adventuring on the back of his hand. "You know, we can't all bottle up gutterwater and sell it for a piece on the streets. Some of us have to work for a living. Doesn't always mean we get to go bathe in the coastline every week like some people." "Speaking of work. I might have something for you. Some traders came through here recently looking for a bit of fun. Looked down their noses at my stock but I recommended you. Use some of that coin you've got and take a bath, you might catch an eye or two and be able to eat for the next week instead of drinking with me." Baldur told him, using his cloth to wipe down the bar. Realistically, he was simply spreading the grease from one side to the other; Kaska thought it better than to mock his cleaning abilities. "Just because I blow you once a week doesn't mean you have to give me charity." Kaska muttered, rolling his shoulder. The mace leaned heavily against his shoulder blade, the back of the grinning face nuzzling into his skinny frame. It bruised more often than not, but Kaska was still glad to have his heavy insurance policy strapped to his back. "What can I say, I'm a lonely man. I just know when I can count your ribs through that rag pile you're wearing it means you need some coin. They're in one of the hotels, I bet you anything they're here dealing drugs. Better get moving. Gangs always show up about this time for their medicine." Baldur grinned yellow teeth at him. "Can't disappoint, can we?" Kaska muttered, slapping a coin down on the bar and beating a hasty retreat. The bartender was a good barometer of the local gangs, as they made up the lion's share of his client base. Kaska had learned making good friends with the man had its advantages, like avoiding the roving packs of human wild dogs that tended to rip up any lone walkers. Kaska stuck to the sides of buildings and shadows, always keeping a solid wall to his left, right or back. It paid to have one side protected at all times, a nose to the wind and eyes wide open. He knew of a bathhouse that catered to some of the gangs and drug dealers in the area; they charged a premium for bathwater but if his friend's tip was correct he could stand to lose whatever the harpy in charge wanted from him. He paused when he heard a small disturbance around one of the street corners, freezing with one hand going up to grasp behind the head of the mace. It was mostly an empty threat, but it was a terrifying weapon and gangs usually thought twice about robbing him now. The smarter gang members looked at his skinny arms, laughed, and robbed him anyway. But it seemed this was no simple gang disturbance. This was a gathering, and like smoke across a dry plain it warned of some very loud things to come.

[Zuarsika]

Zuarsika had been walking these trails all day. She hated being alone, she always wanted to have a friend but either they are frighten of her because she has horns and they think she's the "Devil" or they want to be left alone. Zuarsika loved the to travel for now it was her hobby. She smiled happily to herself and began to hum. Ethaefal usually like to live in romte places, but for this young Ethaefal it didn't matter to her. Like most of her kind she is nice to others and never want to harm anyone.

Zuarsika felt her feet hit a cold puddle, which made the water splash up on her blue dress. She rubbed it off and kept going. She saw a village up head it had to be at lest 8 more miles to go. *Yes almost there!* She was every excided. Never a bad thought came to her mind that something bad might happen, be chased out, being hunted for her horns, or what race was at the village. She should think of it, but nothing struck her as this might be a threat.The Ethaefal's legs started to grow weiry, but she kept on going anyway. She was determind to get there even if she was close to death, she'll keep going.

At last about half an hour later she made it! *Finaily! Now I can hopefully meet someone* her smile grew, *And find somewhere to sleep.*

[Kel Ehmry]

With the city slowly burning, Kel hastily made his way through the streets covering his mouth and nose with a part of a his cloak. The smoke made breathing in Sunberth more difficult, as if the stench of rotting corpses didn't already do that. Spring was supposed to be a breath of hope for the blasted city. Winter had been tough, tough to the point of cannibalization. And now instead of hope, what does the city get? Fire and more suffering. Sunberth was supposed to be Kel's escape. His door to his dreams. Maybe Kel should have seen it coming, but Sunberth was just a dark descent into madness. The fires had naturally sparked further unrest in the streets. The citizens of Sunberth were fuming, and as long as the fires raged on, their anger would only escalate. Kel could see the look of hatred plastered across peoples faces. Hell, he was no different either. He kept his ears open, listening to the complaints exchanged between friends and neighbors. "This goddamn city has gone to shit..." one man said. "No food, and now barely any air to breathe" a woman quipped. Kel came up upon a corner when he heard commotion from around the bend. He halted in his tracks and dissected the sounds with his ears. It wasn't your ordinary city commotion or street chatter. No, this was fiery. And it was organized. A riot perhaps? Probably. They seemed to be a common occurance these days.

[Kaska Villahotes]

Kaska risked peeking around the corner. The gathering was huge, over fifty people clustered in the street. They were growling with unrest, a group of men clustered before the self-same bathhouse that Kaska had been headed toward. He groaned inwardly and scowled. "Of course, the day I need a bath someone decides another smash and grab is in order." he growled under his breath, pulling the mace from his back. His skinny arms struggled to hold it up, and the large steel head fell to the cobblestones with a loud clang. "The hell was that?" "Sounded like armor..." Kaska swore and struggled to lift the mace, managing to get a good grip on it. A few men departed from the angry crowd, which was escalating from simple shouting. Kaska heard glass break and a door crumple, and loud shrieks from inside the bathhouse. He hoped the woman who ran it would be alright, she was a good soul and had spotted him more baths than he had a right to when times were tough. His heart sank when he heard the angry whoosh of flame, as yet another fire billowed smoke into the sky. Being a drier time of year, the roof went up like tinder. But Kaska had more things to worry about. Three men rounded the corner and came face to face with the whore. "What's this we have here? Some whore who raided an armory?" One of them chuckled nastily, cracking his knuckles. Kaska growled and raised the mace, his arms shaking with effort. He appraised the situation. Three thugs, most likely from a local gang, which meant that the riot was most likely gang related. Random thugs didn't usually depart from a large pack like that unless they were ordered, especially when the scent of woman and gold was in the air. Kaska's eye caught a fourth man around the corner on the street across from him. He wasn't sure how to regard him yet, but if these three were determined to beat him up and take his belongings, he would take all the help he could get. He settled for baring his teeth and raising the mace threateningly whenever the gang members made a lunge. They were waiting for him to make a true strike, knowing the heavy two handed mace would lurch him horrifically off balance. Like dogs at a bull they half-heartedly swung and struck at him. Kaska's only option was to backpedal away from the chaos of the burning bathhouse, toward the stranger. Much as he hated having an unprotected flank to someone he didn't know, his situation couldn't get much worse.

[Michaela Abendroth]

Michaela was walking around admiring whatever there was to admire about this city, and trust me that wasn't much. When she seens flames at a local bathhouse that she had often went to, to take a bath every once in awhile. She looked around to see what all the noise was ... She rushed from the alleyway that she was walking down. She almost ran right passed someone that looked like he was about to get beat up by three gang members ... she might not have any weapons on her but she had claws and sharp teeth and she was never afraid to use them, and those thugs looked like they could make a good meal. She noticed that the man was pretty skinny and that he wouldn't have much of a chance. She eyed up the thugs and carefully planned out her attack ... She would just fly over and grab him, but she didn't want to throw him off guard and have him attack her with that mace, even though he couldn't hold it very well I am sure that he could do some major damage with it; she thought to herself. She carefully and quietly started coming down the alleyway to the thugs backs, and put her finger to her lips to show the man that she was going to help him but he was to keep quiet. I hope he can help me out a bit with this, or maybe that man that is off in the distance will see what is going on and to help, but then you could never be too sure about people around here, especially when most of them don't like me or my specimens. She thought out her plan a little bit more about what approach she was going to take.

[Kel Ehmry]

Oh boy, what have you stumbled into this time Kel the Zeltivan asked himself, as he watched in horror as the local bathhouse went up in flames. "Well, I guess I'll be without a bath for a bit..." he muttered. He watched as the mob escalate from simple shouting into a full on riot. Kel took his eyes off the mob for a moment and glanced at his surroundings. Are they really going to do this whole burning thing right now? he thought. The streets were empty, and there was no one to intervene and break up the mob. Anyone that had been present had gone off and become apart of the problem. Kel returned his attention the the riot. Kel could have easily walked away from the chaos at any point, but Kel kept watching. As long as he stayed out of sight, he wouldn't have any problems. But, of course he had caught someone attention. In the corner of his vision he saw movement. He whipped his head to the side and saw another man. Kel saw a mess of red hair sitting on a rather skinny body. The man was slowly making his way towards Kel with a mace in his hands. Kel's eyes widened as his first thought was he was about to get his head bashed in. This should of been Kel's queue to get out of there, but he stayed. Was it fear that wouldn't let him budge, or was he just stubborn?

[Kaska Villahotes]

Kaska saw the woman coming toward him down the alleyway in his peripheral vision, but he didn't dare turn his head or eyes toward her. It seemed like she was there to help, but Kaska was a distrustful creature by nature and wouldn't drop his guard even for a friend. He heard a loud crackling, and groaning, like some great animal was in pain. He glanced up and saw the roof of the bathhouse collapse inward, belching flame into the sky as air rushed in and fanned the flames. It also gave him a hideous disadvantage, as the harsh glow and the heat was making his eyes sting. He blinked away tears and growled angrily at the three men backing him slowly but surely away from any assistance. He was getting closer and closer to the man behind him, and he had to make a decision quickly. It was either be backed up against the stranger or face the three in front of him. He raised the mace threateningly, knowing at this point it would just excite the men and make them strike at him quicker. Kaska waited until one of the thugs struck a little too close, and let the horned mace fall. The man looked up and saw the heavy steel head coming down at him, and moved his head out of the way. The mace glanced against his cheek and struck true against his shoulder with a sickening crack. The man's collarbone snapped like a twig under the weight, driving itself out of the skin. A horrific scream rose from the man's throat as he fell to the ground, staring at his shattered shoulder. "HA!" Kaska gloated at the other two, who seemed stunned that he'd actually managed to hit something. Unfortunately, in attacking Kaska had disarmed himself. The mace was stuck like a woodcutter's axe in a particularly large block of wood. Luckily for the thug, neither of the twin forehead spikes on the mace's grotesque face had pierced him, but the third spike had buried itself just beneath the shattered collarbone and had stuck fast. Kaska took one glance at the thugs staring at their wounded companion and took the opportunity to try and tug the mace out. In doing so, he only lodged it further, as the spike was stuck firmly under the collarbone and only yanked the broken shard out further with the catamite's tugging. The wounded man's companions recovered when they realized their prize had quite utterly disarmed himself, and lunged at him. "Shit!" Kaska let go of the haft of the mace as if he'd been burned and tried to break into a flat run toward the stranger he'd had his back toward. He was loath to leave his weapon, but he never planned on getting far from it. He would simply run around the block until he'd either exhausted the men running after him or lost them. The stranger on the street corner was an integral part of getting a head start. He meant to use him as a shield for the time being, and the thugs seemed just as determined to crash straight through the skinny cartographer and throttle the whore that had injured their companion. "Get back here you son of a bitch! I'm going to twist that diseased head of yours clean off!" one of them roared at Kaska's retreating back.

[Michaela Abendroth]

Michaela seen the man strike the one man and not do such a good job at it. Michaela then seen them start to chase after him. Michaela couldn't just let the stupid, overpowering MOB take out that man who has done nothing. Michaela went up to where the guy struck at the one MOB member and Michaela picked up his Mace and then she started running after them ... The mace was a little bit heavier than she thought and it slowed her down a little bit, but Michaela managed to keep a pretty good distance. When the guy looked back behind him to see how close the 2 MOB members were to him, Michaela showed him that she had his Mace. If Michaela could get close enough she would swing it at one of the MOB members. But then she did not know very much about using weapons, as we mostly just used our body when we fought. One of the MOB members was starting to slow down. As the man fell further and further behind the other 2, Michaela hid behind a barrel and awaited him to pass by. As he stopped huffing and puffing, Michaela hit him from behind with her fist to the back of the head and he fell down. Michaela then remembered that she had the mace still beside her on the ground. Michaela rose the mace above her head and she then brought it down on his face.

Well that was a little bit easier than I thought it was going to be Michaela said to herself and then got the mace back out of the mans face.

Now to find out where the other two had ran off to. Michaela hoped that the man would appreciate her for this and maybe they could get a drink or something after these MOB members were gone and not after him anymore.

Michaela than ran off with the mace in her hands looking for the other MOB member and the guy he was chasing.

[Kel Ehmry]

Things were turning violent, as if they hadn't already. That man with the mace had turned his back to Kel and started a full fledged fight against a few mob members. Kel crossed his arms and lent back against the wall he was standing against. He watched as the man carrying the mace did his best to fight off his attackers. One thug was dropped, taking a heavy blow to the shoulder, certainly resulting in some shattered bones. Kel thought the man was actually going to manage to fight off those goons, but Kel was wrong. Instead of continuing his offense, the man dropped his mace, and fled in Kel's direction. The thugs followed suit. Suddenly another twist occurred. A women had appeared from an alleyway and picked up the man's mace. "Ahhh the poor guy's getting his weapon stolen" he chuckled to himself. But then the women did something completely unexpected, and possibly reckless. She managed to catch one of the goons chasing the man, and knock him down with the mace. Kel raised his brow. Maybe she is one of that guy's friends... he thought. Kel now had three men racing towards him. Kel tried to stay as calm as someone could be in the current scenario, thinking how this was going to play out. He retained his relaxed posture against the brick wall, taking slow deep breaths. He just hoped he didn't end up in. And if he did, at least the vultures were gone so he wouldn't be eaten. Before Kel knew one of the men had raced past him. The thug was just behind him, and Kel made a split-second decision. After the first man had passed Kel, the Zeltivan casually stretched his leg out as a thug came up on him. The thug's legs caught Kel's outstretched limb and the man came crashing down into the dirt ground, while the other continued his pursuit after the leading man. "Petcher!" the man grunted as he tried to bring himself to his knees. Kel remained silent and responded with a kick to the mans side, toppling him over onto the dirt once again. Now where'd that other guy go off to? He owes me.

[Kaska Villahotes]

Kaska knew if the men caught him he would be in for it. He raced past the skinny man leaning against the wall as if his life depended on it, and in all likelihood it did. He heard the distinctive clang of his mace crushing skull as he rounded an alley corner. One down, though gods only knew who was wielding it! He hadn't dared to turn his head to look back, doing so would have slowed him down. He heard another sound as he rounded the second corner, a body hitting the floor with a loud oath. The distinctive noise and grunt of a man being struck. Two down. Kaska could hear the last one behind him, puffing and snarling like a freight train. Kaska was running out of steam. He could feel blurriness around the edges of his vision as he ran. He was too malnourished to keep running flat out. The thug was getting closer and closer, catching up with him. Kaska scrabbled around another corner and found himself running down the road toward the mystery helpers. This time he could clearly see them. The first looked like some sort of demon, with large wings and red hair much like his own...when it was clean anyway. The second one looked sort of bookish, and a thug was rolling around groaning in pain next to him. He must have been the one that had taken down the second man. As for the demon...Kaska knew what a Zith was. He skidded to a stop so fast the thug crashed into him and sent them both to the pavement. "You little guttersnipe!" The man roared, punching the back of Kaska's head. His vision swam, stars bursting behind his eyelids.