One Bad Day (Roman)

by **Seth** on February 21st, 2011, 3:27 am

The two men replaced the shrouding positions of their hoods, each of them giving Roman a short nod. All three men exited the building, and quickly moved through the raining streets of Ravok. The two Ebonstryfe took up positions on either side of Roman, their shoulders gently nudging him along in the direction that they were supposed to go in. Roman would noticed how the crowd parted for him and the three men. A few odd glances were tossed toward him and his rather looming figure, but those glances were quickly directed elsewhere. Perhaps it would be empowering for the normally timid doctor. As he walked down these streets, he was being associated with an extremely powerful group. He literally had people scurrying to get out of his way, crowds parting before him. Respect for him and what they thought he was could literally be felt in the air. "Empowering, isn't it?" One of the men whispered in Roman's ear, the amusement thick in his quiet voice.

Soon, the Silver Sliver came into view. One of the cloaked men reached out to grab the door and yanked it open, holding it for Roman and the other cloaked figure. The remaining Ebonstryfe gave Roman a short push forward, allowing him to enter first. Right as Roman would stumble forward a step, he would suddenly feel a small steel dagger being pushed into his palm. He was given the handle first, and the idea was clear. "Here. We need you alive. Keep an eye out for trouble."

With that, all three men swept into the Silver Sliver.

There was only one waitress on duty tonight, for the steady rain had people pent up inside their warm homes. There were four or five dark-cloaked figures inside, and Roman would likely assume that those were other Ebonstryfe. One of them was probably this "Kain" they had spoken of, and who knew who the others were. One was probably the white-haired freak, if he had indeed been serious when he had said he was thirsty. There was only one other man here, a haggard drunk who was snoozing at the bar. The two Ebonstryfe simply headed straight for a corner table, as far as possible from everyone else within the building, waving the approaching waitress away. "Keep your eyes open. Kain knows his time is short. He may be suspicious of why we are here."

Indeed. Roman would easily feel it. The minute they had entered the room, the tension had thickened.

by **Roman** on February 28th, 2011, 7:34 pm

As the two ebonstryfe put their helmets and hoods back on, Roman nervously fiddled with the edge of cloak as he waited. When they gave him a small nod he followed them outside the door, the two men walking shoulder to shoulder with him, giving him directions to their destination by nudging him with their shoulders, not to gently to his annoyance. Though his annoyance was quickly replaced with a wierd kind of embarrassment when he noticed that the stares that he normally got directed to him was quickly directed somewhere else when they saw the two ebonstryfe walking besides him.
He gave a tentative nod to the question one of the ebonstryfe whispered in his ear, it did feel fairly good to not be stared at every time he went outside. Still the crowd parting in front of him did make him a tad nervous.

Luckily for him though they quickly reached the silver sliver so he was at least he didn't have to be in that situation for long.
One of the ebonstryfe held open the door while the other one gave him a small push forward, indicating that he should go in first. Not wanting to make them angry at them he quickly made move to go inside. He froze when he felt the cold handle of a dagger being pushed in his hand.
He reluctantly took the dagger and put it behind his belt, walking inside the bar.

As soon as they entered he felt something heavy in the room, it was as if the air itself suddenly had a weight, trying not to be to bothered by it he followed the two men to one of the tables in a corner his eyes shifting around and trying to keep track of everybody in the bar.
He nodded when one of the ebonstryfe said to keep his eyes open. He didn't have to be told that with atmosphere like this.
"So what do we do when we see him?"

by **Seth** on March 6th, 2011, 2:40 am

It would actually be much more forward than any of them could have possibly thought. Out of the four dark figures within the tavern, two of them instantly stood the minute Roman and his group sat down. The tension would grow even thicker as the two dark cloaked figured approached, and then slowly sat, seating themselves across from Roman and his two companions. There was a moment of dead silence, but then finally, Roman's red-haired partner leaned forward, whispering in a stoic tone. "Can I help you?" Which of the two cloaked figures he was talking to remained a mystery. Both of them didn't answer immediately, and instead cocked their hoods, as if studying the situation.

Suddenly, the tension thickened even more, quickly and sharply so. Roman's black-haired companion was the first to notice. "Lyn! Watch-"

The two men across from them suddenly leaped from their chairs, pulling longswords from beneath their cloaks in a flash. They used their sudden movement to flourish their long cloaks, giving Roman a glimpse of chainmail underneath, covering up their chests. Both of the whirling cloaks provided a distraction and a veil, and Roman's group was caught off guard. Lyn was left scrambling for his sword, falling back to try and dodge an oncoming strike. The other one was quicker to react, leaping up and drawing his blade as well.

Still using a single motion, the two men struck, longswords flashing brilliantly. The first struck at Lyn, barely nicking his throat as he threw himself backward, both him and the chair flipping to the ground. The other sword flashed to connect with the black-haired man's blade, both of the Ebonstryfe crossing swords and locking together. If Roman took notice of the rest of the tavern at any point during this confrontation, he would notice something odd. The waitress had vanished, and the remaining two Ebonstryfe had assumed positions by the entrance, as if guarding it.

Lyn was hurriedly jumping up off the floor and drawing his blade, but that left his opponent free to move. Apparently satisfied he had a moment to spar, the Ebonstryfe flicked his wrist to bring his sword around again, dazzling toward Roman's neck. He would quickly realize he wasn't an innocent bystander in whatever kind of brawl this had become. He was dressed just like them. For all means and purposes, he was a third enemy.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Roman would hear a familiar sound echoing into his ears. The mad giggling of one white-haired villian, who was yet to be found.

by **Roman** on March 11th, 2011, 9:09 pm

Roman could feel it in his toes that those two men weren't going to be good news, but then again, even if a little girl came up to him right now he would have looked at her as if she would try to rip his head off when he would look away so he might be overreacting a bit.
Still he looked at the two men who sat down in front of them, keeping his mouth shut unless he would say something that would let a fight break out faster then a women lost her virginity in sunberth.
The red haired ebonstryfe beside him decided to break the silence and asked what he could do for them. Roman tensed even more when they didn't react at all aside that one of them cocked his head to the side.
Before Roman could even react both of them suddenly jumped up and drew their longswords, one of his companions yelling a cut of warning.
Roman quickly stood up his chair falling over, but he didn't pay any heed to that, being to busy with digging trough the blasted cloak to find his dagger. When he finally pulled out the dagger and looked back to the fight he saw one of the hooded ebonstryfe strike out against him with his sword.
Letting out a yelp of fear he brought up his dagger to parry the blow and gave the table in between them a hard kick hoping ram it in the mans belly and give himself some breathing room.

by **Seth** on March 20th, 2011, 9:07 pm

The longsword smashed into his little dagger, the small piece of steel managing to catch the strike around the tip of the oncoming blade. It did little to help Roman's cause, for as the doctor was well aware of, he was not skilled with fighting. Especially not against a sworded Ebonstryfe, who had been trained to kill since they were young. Especially not with just a dagger. Who had given him that damn thing anyway?

The dagger bent and skipped out of his grip as the sword made contact. It was flung to the side, and the longsword only bounced by a bit. It had been a casual swing, yet it had held a remarkable amount of force to it. The man merely flicked his wrist again, and was preparing for another blow. Lyn had managed to get his blade out, but he had but another second before he could get into position. The black-haired man was still engaged with his opponent.

Roman's kick was his saving grace. It barely scooted the heavy wooden table forward, as Roman wasn't the strongest man on the planet... but it accomplished it's purpose. A loud smack echoed through the room as it caught the Ebonstryfe in the stomach, causing him back a step. His blade slashed, and the tip barely skirted Roman's throat. They weren't playing around here. All of their blows were deadly.

Lyn was now up, and now stood at the guard, ready to protect Roman. "Get back, you fool! Get your dagger, and find a corner to hide in!" The order was barked out, and Roman would likely find it to be one that he agreed with.

Then, the Ebonstryfe attackers moved yet again. They had taken the initiative, and they didn't want to lose it.

The one locked with the black-haired man gave a huge shove, sending one of Roman's protectors stumbling back. The other one flipped his sword down, sticking it in the floorboards, coming up and grabbing the table. With a huge heave, he showed Roman how to really do it, and sent the table flipping head over heels. Lyn moved like lightning, going down on one knee, catching the table on his shoulder and with his hand, using it as a makeshift barrier and protecting Roman from the blunt of it. He barked out an order again, his eyes flashing at the doctor.

"Move! You are useless!"

by **Roman** on April 13th, 2011, 2:08 pm

Roman's eyes widened in horror when his dagger was knocked out of his hand, the ebonstryfe in front of him pulling back for another swing.
Giving a quick prayer to rhysol and the voice to get him out of here alive. Maybe rhysol heard him and granted him his protection or maybe it was the heavy table that hit the man in his stomach letting the blade missed its target by a hairsbreadth, slashing only through air.

To his great relief Lyn darted in front of him taking away the attention from him while at the same time Yelling at him to get his dagger and take cover.
You didn't have to tell that to roman twice and he quickly looked around for his dagger, spotting it a few feet away from him, quickly grabbing it and quickly took his distance from the ensuing melee,though he still kept the two 'friendly' ebonstryfe between him and the attackers. Or tried to at least, he didn't want to get jumped and skewered with a sword.

by **Seth** on April 21st, 2011, 3:00 am

Roman would perhaps be taken off guard by how fast the tables turned once he was out of the way. Then again, maybe it would all make sense in that moment. Since he had to be kept alive in order for the two men to fufill their master's wishes... he was a handicap of sorts. The opponents had attacked fast and hard, and when they had realized he was a weakness, they had made a stab at him. They had been strategic, but their strategy hadn't just been because they were intelligent.

Lyn jumped, a mere blur to the eye. He caught onto the edge of the table he had protecting him, and flipped over, a flurry of blades and speed. The one who had been attacking him just moments before instantly went on the defensive, no match for Lyn's rather impressive sword skill. Roman wouldn't even be able to track it with his eye. It as just a flash of steel, shining and flying every which way. It was almost breath-taking. It was horribly deadly and dangerous, but so incredibly graceful. This man he was working for, he was talented. Very much so. And the 'Stryfe had trained him well.

Roman would know it now. Their attackers hadn't been smart. They had been desperate.

The black-haired man set his foot down as he was pushed back, skidding only a foot or two before coming to a stop. His opponent tried to follow up, but was met with a spinning dagger, the black-haired man drawing and throwing his hidden blade in a deadly horizontal toss. The steel spun like a flashing silver disc, and the approaching opponent barely dodged, instantly dropping to his stomach. The opponent looked up, and him and Roman would notice the same thing. The black haired man's right arm had gone completely slack. Like it had been broken, or something. Had the opponent been able to slip in a blow that neither Roman or the black-haired man could see?

Or perhaps the sudden lifelessness had something to do with the phantom limb that had suddenly appeared, hovering right above the opponent who had dropped to the floor. The astral limb had caught the thrown dagger hilt. With elegant precision, the blade sliced down, easily beheading the opponent. Then, just like that, the phantom limb flickered and vanished, and the man's right arm suddenly snapped to life. The dagger clattered to the floor, no longer supported by ghostly fingers. What kind of magic had that been? Projection, if Roman was aware of it.

Turning back to the fight between Lyn and his opponent, the story would still be the same. Lyn was a dazzling show of spins and jumps, slashing his blade at his opponent in every which way. It would only be a few seconds before suddenly and randomly, both he and his opponent paused. Lyn cocked his head to the side, and then turned, flicking a bit of blood off of his sword. "Go to work, doctor." From one of the two men standing at the door, a surgeons kit was suddenly produced, tossed toward the still standing body of Lyn's opponent. Where they expecting him to do it on a live body? The opponent would never allo-

Blood violently splurted from the man's throat, and he instantly folded up, crashing to the floor.

Lyn spoke, his voice dry and hard. "Hurry it up, doctor. We want the brain. Just get it out in one piece."

That had been fast. One second they were losing, and now... he was going to have to do what he had been forced into doing. He had to dissect a brain from a freshly killed corpse.

by **Roman** on May 5th, 2011, 10:46 pm

Roman looked with a mixture of shock and awe at the battle, awed by the strange kind of deadly grace that was evident in lyn's fighting, while shocked at the battle of a whole, it was an act of murder something that went completely against his entire way of thinking, he was a doctor after all, he saved life and didn't take it away from people. Though a small part of his mind was trying to convince him that the fact that those persons where dying wasn't that bad at all. Weren't they trying to kill them with all they had just a few chimes ago? Roman wasn't listening though, his eyes where glued to the horrible show going on right in front of him, a click was made when he saw the fight going on, their assailants where desperate, they had known from the start that they wouldn't be able to beat them so they wanted to take out their weak link in the plan.

From that realization onwards he suddenly didn't mind to much that those men where going to die. If it meant he was going to live he didn't really care to much. He carefully waited till the two men had finished their respective opponents, at least as far as he saw, lyn had subdued one and the black man killed his one with some kind of strange magic, letting roman shiver for a moment. Almost giving a short prayer to rhysol, but the god would chose his own choses over him any day. And they needed him so the chance that he would end up the same as the guy on the floor should be nonexistent as long as he did his job well. He didn't have a lot of time to think about that though, one of the ebonstryfe threw a bag full of surgeons tools to his feet and lyn ordered him to get to work, Hesitantly grabbing the bag from the floor and taking a few steps closer to the man, his thoughts where racing at a hundred miles an hour though, how the hell did they expect him to pull out whatever they needed from a live man?
“Not that I am complaining but shouldn't you ki...” He was cut of however when a spurt of blood came from the victims neck splashing over his clothes. Looking at the stain with a blank face then back at the body on the ground.
“Never mind that.” He muttered under his breath, making a mental note to never, ever cross lyn.
Lyn once again said that he had to go to work, now also mentioning that he needed the brains.
Carefully grabbing the body and turning it on its belly so that he could bet easy access to the back of the head. The best way, at least he thought so, to get the brain out in one piece. It wouldn't be to hard, Roman thought to himself, just think of it as a normal dissection as he learned with his pa.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves down he opened the surgeons kit, a short gleam came in his eyes when he saw the high quality tools in it before he focused back on what had to be done. Taking out the scalpel he turned back to the corpse taking a moment to determine where exactly he should cut before cutting loose the entire top of his head, the cut looping around the skull underneath the mans hairline. Roman Took a good hold on the mans hair and gave a hard yank the skin was pulled partly from the skull with a sickeningly sucking sound. Being used to worse then what he was doing Roman just retook his grip and took another yank, now the skin came loose completely the same sound repeating itself again.
Carelessly throwing the piece of skin over his shoulder he cleaned the scalpel on the dead bodies clothes before placing it back in the surgeon's kit, pulling out a hammer and chisel after a few moments rummaging through the kit.
“So do you also need to have the small piece of spinal card that is attached to the brains or is that optional?” Roman asked lyn a small bit of nervousness audible in his voice.

by **Seth** on May 15th, 2011, 10:37 pm

"Whichever is easier." Lyn spoke hurriedly, motioning impatiently with his hand, glancing about. The other dead body was quickly attended to, one of the cloaked figures by the door stepping forward in order to drag it away. Both the man and the corpse vanished into a back room of the tavern.

Lyn and his companion simply stood there, impatiently tapping a booted foot, waiting for the doctor to figure out how he was going to do this. Really, it was his time to show his worth. This was his first job ever in the service of his new employers, and if he was going to show his skill, now was the best time to do it.

"Do you need anything to hold it in, or can we just carry it? He wants it the minute we are done." Lyn abruptly spoke up again, his tone a bit frustrated. Apparently, taking any reasonable amount of time to remove a human brain wasn't quick enough for the Ebonstryfe. When Roman asked his question, Lyn just sighed in frustration, and gave a shrug of his shoulders. "I have no clue. Do you need it? Just take whatever you need to keep the brain whole and in good shape."

Lyn paused again, glancing toward the figure remaining at the door. Biting his lower lip, a bit of a nervous look crossing his face, he started to tap his boot even faster. "Be ready to move though. We are going to take the brain directly to him, from here. We will have to move fast."