PM to join Easing into a situation.

[Alexander Faircroft]

2nd Spring 516AV
10:11AM
Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Usually up at the crack of dawn Alex decided to sleep in a little this morning. One of the few days off he’d actually gotten in the last four weeks he was intent to enjoy it and just lounge about in bed. However he needed to get up at some point. He wasn’t going to throw his armour on for any body’s business, however he’d have to get dressed and grab at least one weapon just in case. Slipping out of his bunk and onto the floor he bundled the blanket around his shoulders hunting for his clothing.

Where did I put it? His half sleep addled mind repeated over and over as he stalked around his room in little more than his blankets. Tripping over the table at the edge of the room he found his stuff. Discarded and laying over the floor beneath it. Scrambling to get dressed he slipped his dagger into his belt and bow over his chest. His quiver hanging over of his waist as he stepped out of his room. Still half asleep and running his fingers through his hair he stumbled out in to the hallway before heading downstairs.

Oddly enough the barracks were quiet. Peacefully quiet. People were either out training or on patrol. A strange thing to be sure, but then Alex normally took on extra work for other squires primarily to help push his own skills and standing within the order. To build up a good reflection of himself and his patron’s work ethic. He felt good and happy to know that he’d done so. Lifting his fingers to the loop of sigils over his neck he sent a small prayer to Priskil and Yahal to thank them for their assistance in everything.

Stepping down onto the lower floor he noticed someone new in the dorms. Someone he hadn’t seen before and took it upon himself to welcome them to the barracks. A sure step and a short walk over, he smiled and stepped up. In his soft and smooth voice he spoke.
“Hello. I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Alex, and I was just wondering are you a new squire in the barracks?” An honest and simple question, though the kind of answer he’d receive back would tell him a lot about the person he was dealing with.

[Poppy Blackburn]

It has been a day since she’d entered into the squire dormitories and began her new life as a squire. Poppy was still getting used to the new life and had woken up early to explore the face and familiarise herself with the surroundings. After the mandatory morning wash-up, Poppy got dressed in her usual outfit which consisted of a fitting shirt and pants along with a pair of hardy boots. She then fastened her weapons, which included her longsword and dagger in their respective sheaths to her belt.

Her clothes were clean, and her locks freshly brushed. She’d left the bow back in her room, for it was a bit too unwieldy to carry it around exploring around. if she so had the need for it later, she could always return to get it anyhow. Still being relatively new with only one day of living as a squire under her belt, she headed downstairs to the main halls. It was peacefully quiet this morning, and she wasn't aware if this wasn't usually the case.

The silence was unlike what she was used to. Life in the outpost had always been rather cosy with the various sounds of people at work in the background, be it the blacksmith hammering away or the merchants hawking their wares, or the sound of knights drilling in the distance.

Perhaps, this wasn't usually the case, and today, most squires just seemed to be elsewhere training or on some mission. Poppy took her time exploring the place before heading back to the main lobby area.

It was there that she saw someone to looked to be roughly not too far from her age. He was walking towards her, she was pretty certain as there was hardly anyone else around, at least not in her general direction. The man gave her a smile and spoke, his voice smooth and soft as though they were made from butter. He introduced himself as Alex, and was wondering if she was a new squire, for he had not seen her around before. Poppy couldn't help but return an excitable smile, and answered, her tone and accent was equally smooth and musical-like, a simple trait gained from being half Vantha. “Hi Alex, I'm Poppy. Pleased to meet you. That's right, I'm a new squire and I'm looking forward to enjoying my time here!”

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Alex walked over with a light step, his foot falls strangely near silent. Controlled and angled over many years of learning how to be quiet. Though despite the lightness of his step he felt heavy. Weighted down like his bones and very soul hurt. Too much training and not enough leave. Still he kept up his smile, a calm ease surrounded him. Poppy, New squire? Seemed his instincts were dead on in this scenario. Good to know he could at least occasionally trust them.

“Well, welcome to the squire hood. Mind if I ask whom your patron is? Usually best to get the formalities out of the way before the familiarity.” As he spoke he stepped up now standing about three feet away from her with a large and visible height difference between them. Alex was now weighing her up. Her skills, from what she carried upon her person and from what he could tell she could use a dagger and a longsword. Good. She knew how to vary her range a little, but how was she with a bow? Only then did he realize he hadn’t introduced himself, or at least his standing. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I’m squire to Ser Greyheart, sergeant knight of the silver Quadron, White company, First wing.” Followed up by a very light salute and a small stance shift he eased back to how he was standing before.

“Just out of curiosity by the way. Why are you here and not training or on patrol? If I stopped you on the way I apologize and please feel free to leave me in the dust here.” Alex carried himself with an honest and even manner. Calm enough that he knew he could react to anything and reserved enough to never come across as overly aggressive. Just spirited. Still here he couldn’t help but feel he was talking to someone else with a similar stance on things. A mirrored approach to tackling things.

Alex’s fingers raised to the loop around his throat, the wooden symbols now openly visible as he pulled them free. Rolling the sigis of Priskil and Yahal in his fingers he wondered over what reason for her not being out training could be.

[Poppy Blackburn]

As Alex stepped over towards her, Poppy noticed how light and quiet his footfalls were. As a former thief back in her childhood in Sunberth, she had come to recognise that steps like these were not gained without practice, and it was clear that her fellow squire has had his fair share of it present in his movements. The young man then went on to inquire about her patron as he wanted to get the formalities out of the way. Such a gentleman he seemed to her.

Poppy would answer him with hardly any delay. “I thank you for the welcome. You, may indeed. My patron is Ser Ramsey Druva, a Sergeant Knight based in Syliras, the city itself.” She ended with a salute as well, similar to the one he had given her just a bit earlier on. Her keen eyes caught him sizing her up, probably judging her on her combat capabilities among others.

She would do the same as well, giving him the once over. He was tall, taller than her at least, probably somewhere around six foot one-to-two inches would be her best guess. He wasn’t overly muscular nor did he looked weak. He was lean and well-built, which was not in the least surprising. He’d probably had more than his fair share of physical and combat training.

He carried a dagger in his belt and a bow at his back, two weapons she were indeed familiar with. Alex then queried about his presence here, wondering why she was not out training or likewise. Her eyes lit up brightly as she answered.

“Oh, it’s my second day here at the dorms as well as a squire, and I’m taking the opportunity to explore around a little while my patron is occupied with some other tasks today.” The spirited girl would then toss a question back to him. “How about you Alex? You’re not training today? Do you have anything on? Would you be free?”

Poppy then stopped herself for fear that she had thrown too many questions at him right there and then. She didn’t want to appear demanding or overly-aggressive. She managed a quick “My apologies. I tend to get rather excitable, especially when meeting new people.”

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Ser Ramsey Druva. Also a sergeant knight. Odd to see another squire under a sergeant knight. Alex gave a soft smile and eased his stance a little. He didn’t have to be as on guard. Most people didn’t have a high ranked or even a ranked patron and often took it as a mark of challenge to see what made those under the tutelage of sergeants special. However right now he didn’t need to be on guard against this and could relax a little more.

Her reasoning for being here though was simply that it was her second day ever as a squire. Interesting to see, he’d never caught someone this fresh to the order. He gave a slight chuckle and listened to the torrent of questions. Asking primarily if he was free. And then a sharp apology for the excitable nature of her initial outburst of questions. He simply waved it off.
“Yeah I’m free today it’s one of the only days off I really get, I’ve got almost a full ten days without stop after this brief five day recuperation period.” That wasn’t entirely true, even on his days off he normally worked and trained to push himself as far as he could go.

“Mind if I asked why you were after the knowledge of whether or not I was off? Could it be that perhaps you need a guide?” Alex was thinking that primarily he was being asked because he was knowledgeable about the city and by proxy that he could be useful. Not that anyone would intentionally want to spend any time around him. There in fact weren’t many, and those he had met seemed to mostly avoid him, barring the small clay people he’d met. Most of which he seemed to have a hard time getting away from.

Alex stepped away now pushing open the door for the barracks and stepping out into the still cool, but vastly more manageable spring air. A deep breath filled his lungs as the glare of Syna caught his eyes. Light wasn’t something that agreed with him when he first got up but he had to admit, it felt better to walk in the light, than the darkness he used to skulk in.

[Poppy Blackburn]

Ser Ramsey Druva was a proud and hearty man, and an even better knight. Although Poppy had only known him for a day, she could see that he is one takes his job and duty seriously and manages to maintain a good balance between his roles and responsibilities as a Sergeant Knight and that of a patron.

Her instincts and judgement told her so, and they were rarely wrong. Briefly recovering from her abrupt outburst earlier followed by the apology, Alex simply waved it off and Poppy was glad to know that her excitable nature had not gotten her into trouble once again.

As her fellow squire responded indicating that he was free, the vivacious girl’s hazel-green eyes lit up with both vigor and warmth in the dim light. He then inquired on her reason for asking in the first place, wondering if perchance she needed a guide.

His guess was not wrong, as that was precisely the reason why she had asked him in the first place. Poppy had every intention to spend some time with him, but that was of course only if he was willing to. “I don’t mind, not in the slightest. Yes, that's right, I would be needing a guide, and I was wondering if you’ll like to spend some time with me, if you’ve not got anything on, or somewhere else to be. I’ll like to think that you’ll be quite useful and it'll be a good time!”

As she finished, an honest smile appeared on her visage, one with both warmth and sincerity. Poppy was both honest and sincere, and Alex looked like a good enough person to her, and her judgments and instincts were rarely wrong, and Poppy had come to reply on them in several occasions.

As Alex turned away to open the doors, bringing in a breeze of morning spring air, she skipped over towards him, heading out of the doors, feeling the refreshing spring air all around her. Poppy filled her lungs with deep breaths of such air, as it was much, much better than the stuffy indoor air of the squire dormitories. As she awaited his answer, the energetic lass would begin carrying out some basic body stretches, limbering up while soaking in the morning sunlight.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Spending some time with her? Showing her around the city, and that it would be a good time. Alex could promise two out of those three. He would be spending some time with her, in order to show her around the city. But he sadly couldn’t promise being any fun. Now fully adjusted to the light he took a moment to consider things, however there was something in her words that didn’t sit well with him. He’d be useful. Not helpful, but useful. Almost made him feel like he was a tool for her to use rather than a person helping her out.

Leaning back and hearing the vertebra along his spine snap each once he exhaled slowly before turning his head over his shoulder, catching her stretching.
“Sure, if you need a guide I’d be more than happy to supply the information.” With those words Alex started off, and within the first few chimes had already started to introduce her to the basic amenities around the barracks and pointed her towards the docks. Over the next bell and a half he took her on a tour around the city. Simple shops and points to frequent, including the rearing stallion. Everyone’s favourite little watering hole.

At the end of the tour he stopped nearer the tank and the council of three’s chambers. “And there you have it. That’s the city in a nut shell. Nothing too technical at least and I’m pretty sure you’ll have a good grasp on where everything is. But the last stop is the tank. As part of our peace keeping duties we have to subdue people and toss trouble makers into the tank. Thankfully it’s been fairly low where I’ve been involved. After all, why solve with force what you can solve with words?” A small easy smirk appeared on his features.

But as he finished speaking he heard a small scuffle from inside the tank. Apparently someone was a little disquieted with their newfound lodgings. The price they paid when they couldn’t settle things like civilized people. Alex shook his head lightly, what was the point in breaking the law to serve yourself? Breaking it to help someone else he could understand but, not self-serving nature.

[Poppy Blackburn]

Alex agreed, taking up her request on being her guide to introduce and prove her information to the various parts of the city. Just as soon as he finished speaking, he was off, not waiting or lingering around and Poppy scampered over to catch up with him. Her fellow squire wasted no time in introducing her to the city, first being the various amenities around the barracks that would be beneficial and of use to them as squires. The barracks wasn’t very big at all.

It simply consisted of just the sleeping rooms, separate rooms for bathing and washing up, and a common area for miscellaneous purposes. There is also a small courtyard outside the barracks where squires could be seen training and exercising occasionally. The next was the city docks, which was also called the Great Harbor.

The Great Harbor was practically the largest in the whole world of Mizahar, second only to the ones in shipping city of Zeltiva. The harbor was constantly busy, and a plethora of ships and boats docked at its ports, as goods were unloaded to be sold at the markets, just as they were too loaded back on other ships ready to be sold and traded elsewhere in the world of Mizahar.

The next bell and a half seen the squire pair travel around the various districts and areas of the city, as Alex continued to introduce her to the city of Syliras. They travelled from the likes of The Ironworks, which was the general blacksmithing area of the city to Wildwood Music, which sold a variety of musical instruments and information alike.

They also past the Leatherworks and the Windmount Stables, a place where, them as squires would become extremely familiar with the place, for that was where the horses they would ride be stabled, and for the love of Yahal, they would have to undergo copious amounts of horse riding training because they could even be considered for knighthood.

The Great Bazaar was also an interesting place to visit, with its large variety of different stalls and shops in its market. Alex also introduced to her the Rearing Stallion, which was the most popular watering hole in the entire city. The tavern sees a healthy amount of people in the evenings, and is a great place to soak in the atmosphere if one needs a drink or two.

As they came to the end of the tour, with just two places left on the list, they headed towards the second last place, the Council of Three’s chambers. The Council of Three was the judicial branch of the city’s government. The last place would have to be the Tank, which was located not too far away from the chambers of the council.

The Tank acted as the city’s jail, and was where those who found themselves in trouble with the law would be taken and held there until they receive a hearing from the judicial branch of the government. As squires, peacekeeping duties would well be within their job scope, and Poppy had no doubts she would eventually have to handle a couple of such cases.

Alexander went on to say that he preferred solving problems with words instead of force, and that earned him a grin from the lass.“I agree with that sentiment. Solving cases with words definitely has its merits.”

A small scuffle could he heard as she spoke, and they both threw glances in the direction of the Tank, Poppy sighed as she watched fellow squire shook his head in disappointment. Sharing his feelings, she wished people didn't have to resort to crime. A life of crime was not a pleasant one.

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Alex folded his arms closed his eyes for a second. Listening out over the area trying to discern the origin of the scuffle, or at the very least what was causing it. Alex didn’t have to focus too long as he watched a couple of people fleeing the tank. Both at high speed.
Damnit. All Alex managed to think before turning to Poppy and saying briefly.
“Looks like it’s time for a crash course in squiring. Grab the one on the left I’ll get the one on the right. Bring them both back here by whatever means but both alive!” With a sharp word he turned on his heel and pressed his feet hard into the ground. With but a moment’s notice he took off racing after one of the two who’d been chained up.

Manacles across his hands he was booking it. Alex being unarmoured was a much faster tail than any of the knights could and would be. So him racing off after one wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Alex took the shortest path to chase after him vaulting over same small stalls placing his hand on the side and leaping around it. By no means an acrobatic feat but, it was enough of an edge that he was gaining on the Escapee faster than he thought he would be able too. Chasing after the Escapee, alex closed the distance and then watched the fleeing person tossing wooden crates to the ground in his wake in an attempt to stop Alex from catching him.

Racing around the edge of the now scattered crates and fragments of jagged wood Alex pushed through the crowd of people pushing through the central street. Just close enough to get a hand on him Alex reached out and grabbed the escapee by the manacles centre chain. Yanking back hard he pulled him off balance but not before a loud pop echoed out. The sheer force of Alex pulling on the chains had wrenched one of the escapee’s arms from its socket who was now lying face down on the ground in agony as Alex attempted to use his still in place arm to haul him back up.
“Why. Why on my one day off do you have to do this? I mean c’mon, couldn’t you just server your time and get out scot free!?” The escaped person said nothing and quite possibly through just pain more than anything else. Alex pushed him back towards the tank and where he hoped he’d find poppy. Provided she’d caught her person.

[Poppy Blackburn]

The scuffle coming from the direction of the Tank seemed to have captured her companion’s complete attention, as Poppy saw the guy close his eyes in a bid to focus on the noise. The curious lass cocked her head in curiosity and wondered if this was out of the norm and if she was supposed to be watching or listening out for anything. Perhaps, Alex simply wanted her to listen to the source of the scuffle going on to see if she could pick up on anything going on? Her question was answered soon enough as a pair of men rushed towards them, as though they were running for their lives. Since they were coming from the direction of the Tank, she could only presume that they were trying to escape from the law and thus, their punishment. Excellent deduction, Poppy, stating the obvious.

Alex then spoke up, informing her that it was time for a crash course in their peacekeeping duties. It looks like their tour was just about to become a whole lot more interesting. With a curt order, he yelled for her to get grab a hold of the one of the left and bring him back to the Tank alive. Not like she was going to kill the man something, that wasn’t who she was. Poppy followed suit as Alex took off, racing towards the fleeing man on the right, while she rocketed off towards the one on the left. This was a good opportunity to prove herself, and with the districts and areas of the city still fresh in her mind from the tour. While she wasn’t the fastest person around, she still liked to think of herself as a fast runner.

Racing towards the man, she could hear the clinking and clanking as the manacles he wore on his hands shook as his ran. She could hear the faint shouts of the knights in the distance far back as they tried their best to keep up, but their armoured selves were no match for unburdened selves such as she and the fleeing criminal. Her keen observations would soon bear fruit as the side road and narrow alleyway she had spotted just now would prove to play a key role in helping her catch her target. Bolting through the alley, Poppy emerged from her shortcut to discover that she had caught up with more than half the distance, and was nearer the target than she had ever been. Placing her palms firmly on the front of a market stall, the lass vaulted over it and tried her best to close the distance left.

Perspiration rolled down her forehead freely, and her tunic was equally drenched in sweat. Her efforts soon proved to be more challenging as the man grew desperate as he saw how close she was to him. Grabbing rolls of cabbages and loaves of bread, he threw them at her, and Poppy now had to duck left and right as she avoided the desperate throws of the criminal.

His actions proved to be more detrimental to his own progress than hers, and that gave her a good opportunity to catch up. As she caught up, Poppy threw herself into a sliding tackle, striking the man’s off balance, sending him falling to the ground face-first with a loud ‘thud’ followed by a crumpled groan. Walking up to the man, she placed her hands on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath.

It's been a long time since I'd run this much. Boy, that was tiring. The man was unconscious, concussed from the fall but otherwise alright. Borrowing some rope and a wooden cart from a nearby store vendor with the promise to return it later, she tied up the criminal’s legs and loaded him onto the cart, and started to head back to the Tank, hoping to find Alex there.