PM to join [The Pillars of Dust] Have We Met?

[Davin]

Davin walked past the ruins of the Pillars seeking an easy way to make money. It wasn't an easy task, the poor were a wary bunch. It helped that he wore a form unlike his original. He appeared a young boy, completely nonthreatening. He had given up his original technique of imitating his father. Instead he was making use of his own abilities, being someone he wasn't. He ducked and dodged past others, doing his best to play the innocent. But even the young were not free of suspicion. Even worse, they were often seen as marks. Davin had to bury his belongings in the sand, in a place he hoped only he knew. He held only his dagger, just in case. As of yet, however there had been no trouble, nor had there been any marks. People were just too wary. With a sigh, he continued his mission, trying to find someone dumb enough to trust him for just a few seconds.

[Khesas]

2nd of Summer, 513 AV

In the light of the sun, few where active by the Pillars of Dust, Khesas included, himself content to recline in the shade, idly letting the sand fall through his fingers as he contemplated. He was still irritable about the way things turned out yesterday. The run in with the gilded had reminded him poignantly that along with everything else, they controlled any crime worth taking the risk. Their pervasive influence ruined everything. The man he'd ran into was probably responsible for getting Riast captured by the Jackals last night as well.

The thought filled him with anger and disgust, for that was another plot foiled by those of higher standing. He should have hid and killed the gilded when he was running by. How could he have been so careless.

"Khesas, what say you" An Eypharian man called out to him in greeting as he walked up. Looking up, he noticed that it was Teval, and raised a hand to welcome him over. "You missed quite the show at the docks today. A little runt of a benshira tried to steal from those fellows from Zeltiva, and publicly lost a hand as a result. It was a good show"

"I see, did the Zeltivan's carry out the justice?" He said, inclining his head to acknowledge the other Eypharian and gestured him to take a spot in the shade beside him. The man had the look and smell about him as if he had just came from the docks. Which was very likely seeing as that was were Khesas knew the man from.

"Of course not, those cowardly fellows would never get their hands bloodied, but they where content enough to see it carried out by the Jackals sure enough"

"Well what can you expect, they are hardly any better than the Benshira" Khesas spoke plainly, drawing a chuckle out of Teval. The Zeltivan's had only been here a few days, and already he was beginning to see their weakness plainly, enforcing his notions of the barbaric north.

"I wanted to be the one to do it since I caught the rat, but alas, a Jackal happened to be lurking nearby, the petchers"

"Agreed they do like to put on a good show" He said with more than a bit of disdain, his still irked that they had caught Riast. The petchers had a suffocating hold on the city, and this latest failure reminded him all to well of this fact. "Did you at least get proper reward for your trouble?

"Ha! Those men, they hold tightly onto their purses"

"Perhaps they keep their balls with their coins!" Khesas chuckled, slapping Teval on his shoulder.

"That would explain why they are walk around so stiffly! Can you believe they've no nobility in their ranks? The petchers probably rut with whomever" Teval laughed, as he uncorked a wineskin and took a big gulp of it.

"How do they determine who rules?" The notion of no nobility, no guilded to lead the government was a foreign concept indeed. How would they know who would lead the city well after all if not by birth?

"Believe it or not, but they let wadj decide! Wadj! They count it to determine whom leads"

"Barbarians, one and all" He spat condescendingly, before taking a swig of wine from the wineskin passed by Teval. As always, the barbarians continually managed to surprise them with their simplistic and quite foolish manner of going about things. It was a wonder that they had any cities left standing at all.

"They almost look civilized compared to the city I overheard a couple of the talking about yesterday. Did you know there is a place in the north with no rulers or laws?"

Khesas's eyebrow raised at that. "Unbelievable! How can a city have no laws?" Everywhere there were rulers, rulers whom imposed laws to keep their power. Without rulers how could a city thrive? How could it even survive?

"Apparently no laws is the law in that land, the citizenry are in charge of the city, and call no one master"

"Ridiculous! How do they manage?" He asked, handing back the wineskin to Teval.

"Trade with the Zeltivan's, and others, so they said to me. They crudely call their city Sunberth! Ask around, you'll see I speak the truth" Teval spoke up after gulping down some more wine.

"An odd city, those Zeltivan's are not as smart as they portray themselves to be" Came Khesas's reply.

"Of course, they are only humans"

He hardly noticing Teval's answer. Having grown up with a Jackal, and living under the boot of the Gilded all his life, it was hard to imagine a city with none of that.

"But enough talk of the Zeltivans, I came here to ask you if you still planned to help me at the docks tomorrow, those fellows will be leaving late in the day, and are paying well those who can get their ships loaded quickly" Teval continued, hardly noticing pause in conversation. Probably too inebriated to, Khesas thought.

"Of course, I'll be there. A few bells after sunrise, as always?"

"Indeed" Teval said, standing up after draining the last of his wine. "I'll see you then, for now I go to find more.. wine" The man stumbled away, and he simply shook his head, before getting up. Despite the wine, he remembered that there were things he needed to do before night fell over the Pillars of dust, and with that thought in mind he set off for home.

[Davin]

As Davin walked about the Pillars, attempting to look sympathetic, he came across a familiar site. The short Eypharian from yesterday. Davin quickly ducked behind an unattended and empty booth to survey the man. The man was simply laying in the shade, lazing about. He was met by another Eypharian rather swiftly, though it seemed a chance meeting. As Davin continued to spy, he found himself unable to hear him. Something he didn't care for. He wanted revenge on this guy, and to do that he needed to more about the man other than, "he was short." Luckily a small beggar child is often ignored. He drooped his shoulders and moped passed them, looking as defeated as he could. They spoke in Arumenic and it was faster than he would have liked. But he found out a few things at least. His name was Khesas. And he was just as racist as the rest of his kind. Nothing special, or spectacular. But then again Davin hadn't expected to find anything special or spectacular about him. A name was a good start. His friend, a drunken Eypharian by the name of Teval, was leaving. Luckily a drunk was easily fooled. And though Davin wanted to have his revenge here and now, there was little he could do with so little time to prepare. He slipped away, out of sight behind a building as he changed his shape. Teval was going to make up for the trouble of his friend. He pulled at the sides of his torso, and grunted as he concentrated on the change. Once again he imagined himself, with another image over top. An Eypharian that looked much like himself. He pulled harder and soon fingers began to grow, then hands, then arms. he pulled out the arms as if they had been in his body the whole time waiting for release. In a chime he had altered his body to that of his Eypharian self. He concentrated some more and felt his lip begin to itch as a thick mustache came into being. With much less concentration his hair became a more solid black and his eyes a dark brown. He went after Teval, doing his best just to appear as he looked rather than hide. A good scare ought to be enough.

[Khesas]

Khesas didn't notice Teval struggling along in his inebriated state, or his impending encounter with an Eypharian. No, his eyes and thoughts were on checking around if that Gilded he'd run into the other day was making any efforts to find him. He'd played fearless and mighty the other day, but ever since that moment, he found himself watching over his shoulder, worried that the next time he might check he would find that the Eypharian had caught up to him. After all, one did not easily offend the Guilded and continue breathing long afterwards, so he feared the retribution that might come. So far he'd heard nothing, but this one could just simply be good at covering his tracks.

Someone who'd be the most likely to know, he knew, was his father. Those of the whom were among the more well off and influential often came to him to "pay their respects, which was just a way of paying him off to look for people for him, and sometimes even, take care of little "problems." It was another reason he despised the Guilded, for it was just a reminder of how those of wealth and affluence completely ran things in this city, keeping any one they didn't want to rise in status from doing so. So with that in mind, he ascended the last few stairs to his home.

oocFeel free to control the NPC

[Davin]

As Davin continued to stalk the Eypharian, he noticed that Khesas had ascended the stairs of the building he had been sitting in front of. As he looked at the building more closely, he found it resembled a residence. Davin had not noticed before, but now, he realized that this might be Khesas's home. A new plan came to Davin then, though only half-formed. First though, he had to make sure he was right. Teval continued to strut along the street, not seeming to care much for the people around him. Davin continued on, intent on making the most out of this situation. He approached the inebriated Eypharian and tapped him on the shoulder. As he turned, Davin gave him a smile and put on a friendly persona. "Hello. My name is Shadesh. I was told to meet Khesas somewhere near here? Could you tell me where he lives?" Teval tilted his head at Davin, not quite believing, or more likely, understanding what he had just said. Though that only lasted a moment. It seemed Teval could handle his drink better than most. As he did so, Davin studied him, attempting to put his face to memory. "Sure, he lives right over there. You missed him." "Ah, Thank you." With that, Davin turned and headed back towards where he came, back into the hidden place that he had transformed. This was going to take a while, but it would be worth it, he thought. He knelt and closed his eyes, focusing on Teval's face. He didn't have the best memory, but remembering a face was something everyone did. It was how you recognized someone, and that was the one thing you could usually remember about a person. You didn't remember how the skin folded on their knees and elbows, or the length of their fingers and toes. You remembered the face. So Davin took his hands and began to massage his face, helping it re-form. His skull broke and re-grew and reshaped itself several times, just as the muscles in his face began to twist and reform as well. His hair grew in some places, and shortened in others. His eyes changed as well. All of it happened at once, as Davin saw Teval's face in his mind's eye. As he came to an end, he realized it had been half a bell since he began. With little time to spare, he went looking for clothes that might pass for his intended purpose. It didn't take long to find a robe hanging out to dry. He snatched it and began to dirty it, rip it, and otherwise make it unidentifiable. Khesas had seen his own clothes and Teval's so this was the best he could do. He then began to color his face and body in dark blues and blacks, imitating bruises. He used these to cover his face just a bit in case he had made a mistake. Done, Davin appeared every bit the victim of an assault. Which was exactly what he wanted. He believed that Khesas still believed the lie that Davin had been a member of the Gilded. If so, then this had a chance of working. Davin began to act hurt, limping and moaning as he made his way to Khesas's home. It took a lot of hard work not to laugh.

[Khesas]

Ascending the last fews steps to his house, paranoia still creeping at the back of his mind, he shot a glance over his shoulder at the street before entering his home. At least it didn't seem anyone was following him, though that reassurance did little to assuage his unease.

Disappointingly enough, the place was empty meaning his father had taken his midday meal elsewhere and he'd likely not be able to meet with him till later on to night. That was more than inconvenient, since quite needed to know what the Gilded knew about him if anything. For all he knew the man was closing in on him in the present, with men readied at his back. Not for the first time today, he seriously contemplated packing up supplies and getting out of Ahnatep before trouble caught up to him.

He couldn't think like that though, not at this moment at least. Right now he needed to keep calm so he could think clearly and deal with this quickly developing situation. It was the only way he would get out of this alive, he was certain.

To clear his mind, he decided to fix up a midday meal, when there came a loud knock at the door. His heart skipped a beat at the sound as his mind was sent to racing once more. Whom could that be? The only ones whom knew of this place were family, and they would simply enter instead of bothering with such useless pleasantries. Could it be the Gilded?

Another knock came, and hesitantly Khesas approached, grabbing his scimitar from beside the doorway. Holding his breath, he opened to door to face whomever it was that dared to intrude upon his home.

[Davin]

Davin staggered about in a drunken stupor, nearly unable to support himself. He played as though he could barely stand, and began to stammer. Davin let himself croak a few broken notes trying to imitate Teval’s voice. Each one sounded like his throat had been crushed. He turned his head as he revealed a bruise to the throat and gave out a raspy gasp. “Khesas, you idiot. Did you cross paths with a Gilded? I got ambushed! He, he’ll kill me unless I give him his money. Why would you rob a Gilded, Khesas? What were you thinkin-” Davin broke off and began to cough. He put everything he knew of being weak and beaten into the act, doing his best to look the part. The voice wasn’t perfect, but hopefully the bruise on the throat might help with that. “I-I was ambushed, by two goons. One of them wasn’t even Eypharian! They held me down and began to just hit me, and stomp. Please, let me in. I- I need to regain myself. Please.” Davin coughed harder and longer this time, and fell onto the floor. He gave a brief look at Khesas and struggled back to his feet. He realized he might be overdoing it a bit, but he really wanted to work on what sympathy he had. Anything to keep him from closely looking at him or really giving him time to think at all. He wanted him to react, act on instinct. If things took too long, he had more time to question the situation.

[Khesas]

"What the petch!?" Is all Khesas managed to get out before the Teval seeming launched into a frenzy, raving about a Gilded between hacking coughs. Overwhelmed, he let his associate in, if only to just avoid attracting unwanted attention from the streets, he was a wanted man after all. He kept his scimitar poised between him and Teval all the same though, his instincts protecting him while his mind tried to comprehend the dozens of questions that assailed him in that moment. One managed to rise above the rest, the most relevant one in Khesas's mind at least, and brandishing his scimitar towards the young Eypharian, he eyed Teval dangerously.

"How'd you find this place?"