Unfamiliar Grounds - Chyril 27th, Tradetide

[Mikkel]

The guard at the harbor gate had given him directions to the Burpin’ Dragon. They had been simple directions, really; “follow the street to the marketplace, turn right and seek the Burpin’ Dragon.” But Mikkel never found the market place.

At first he thought that he had maybe walked right through the market place and not even noticed it. Then he thought that maybe he hadn’t gone far enough. He stood in the middle of the street for a while before deciding to make a right on one of the other streets. It wasn’t long before he became unsure of himself and made another wrong turn, followed by another, and soon he was unsure just how many turns he had made.

Mikkel wasn’t used to a city so large, so many people, so many streets. It was like some sort of maddening maze. To make matters worse, the cloud darkened sky began to shed rain down upon him. He couldn’t be sure of it, but he had an idea that the gods were laughing at him.

Letting out a cry of rage and frustration, Mikkel looked quickly around and headed for the nearest open door he saw, seeking shelter from the rain and hoping that he hadn’t stepped into the wrong building.

[Grey Wolf]

Mikkel did not go far enough to come upon the Marketplace, and with the heavy rains he could not even see far down the now empty streets to get a glimpse of the stalls. He did find shelter in a nearby building just off the street, its grey spartan walls bearing no sign, though the doors were wide open and inviting. It was a few flickers before the young man’s eyes got used to the dim lighting within, and groans and moans were the first things he noticed as he stepped in from the storm. He found himself in a large chamber, simple cots covering the floor, dozens of men and women laying upon them, and it was from them that the moans came. A heavy scent of herbs and stale sweat hung in the air, several faces upon the cots turning towards Mikkel their eyes somehow pleading the young man to do something, anything. A few forms moved amongst the prone people, though with the storm outside, farmer’s son could not quite see who or what they were.

[Mikkel]

"Terribly sorry," Mikkel said to the people within, "I noticed the door was open, and that rain is coming down something terrible."

He wasn't quite sure what was going on in here. Were the moans from pleasure or pain? It was sometimes hard to tell the difference. He recalled a quite evening back on the farm in Dort when he had woke to the sounds of moaning. It sounded like one of his brothers. Thinking his brother was in some sort of trouble, he stepped outside to try and help only to find that his brother... intimately engaged with one of the sheep.

A flash of lightning and a clap of thunder brought him back to the present, his eyes straining in the dark so that he could better assess the situation. The darker forms within set his nerves a bit on edge and he found his hand reaching for the hilt of his sword.

He squinted as best he could, but was unable to make anything out. He hoped that lightning would strike again soon, he would be paying attention this time, and maybe the light would give him a moment to make out what was going on in here.

"Er... Is everything alright in here?" He asked.

[Grey Wolf]

The woman whom Mikkel addressed fell back upon the cot limply, curling into a ball and shivered, her teeth chattering in the darkness. Lightning made the her glassy eyes stand out in the darkness, her face shining, covered in some sort of liquid. It was only after his second sentence that one of the dark forms rose from where it knelt next to the cot, and glided over the floor towards him soundlessly, weaving its way between the prone forms that covered it. As it turned out it was a woman, top half of her face obscured by the deep hood, though her lips and the shape of the neck betrayed her sex. The robe was grey and heavy, obscuring her form, arms folded into the sleeves. "Good tide, kind sir. Is there anything we can do for you? Have you come to see one of our patients?"

[Mikkel]

His tension eased a bit, his hand dropping from the hilt of his blade. It was a place for the sick, he realised; the injured and/or the diseased. He had heard of these sort of places before, but had never actually been inside of one.

"I... No, I'm sorry I'm not here to see anyone," he said. "I just arrived in town today, and I'm afraid I got turned about in the streets somehow." He wasn't ready to admit that he was lost persay, just "turned about".

"The storm hit, and I saw the open door so I just ducked inside. I hope I'm not disturbing anyone," he said, peering around the dark room.

Then a thought hit him. He'd heard of villages being wiped out from a sickness, one person got it and everyone else caught it as well. He leaned in close to the hooded woman and whispered; "Is, uh... Is what they have... Is it something catchable?"

He certainly hoped not.

[Grey Wolf]

“Oh…..” The woman listened politely to Mikkel shaking her head when he asked about being a disturbance, since the young man did little but stand there and that was hardly a disturbance. “You are welcome to stay until the storm ends, though I would ask you not to bother our patients. And you have nothing to fear. They are not contagious, merely wounded. There was a fire two nights ago and some people were burned and then more were injured in the riots last night. We treat the poor and those unable to afford to pay for a healer.” The woman paused, waiting to see if there was anything else Mikkel required of her, so she could return to her patients.

[Mikkel]

"Fire?" He asked. "Riots?" What the hell kind of a place is this? Riots and fires didn't leave Mikkel with the feeling that he had found himself in the friendliest of environments. Perhaps the violence could be an asset to him, though; it was entirely possible that he would be able to find work as a bit of protective muscle for someone.

"Thank you," he said to the woman. "If I could ask you one more thing before I leave... I was trying to find a place called the Burpin' Dragon... I just need somewhere to stay, really; I don't care where. Would you be kind enough to point me in the right direction?"

[Grey Wolf]

“Yes, we had a bit of a fire problem lately. A brothel and a building of the new Red Rose Guild burnt down. They say both fires were foul play. This city is becoming more dangerous with each day. Perhaps the new Caesar will manage to bring some order to it, though from what I heard he is more interested in pretty girls than needs of his subjects.” For a flicker the woman’s voice was tinged with anger, though her full, slightly curved lips, gentle curve of her neck and the hinted upon curves of her body under the heavy robe marked her as far from ugly herself. “And yesterday riots broke out throughout the city. Not as bloody as the ones last year, but still nasty. Not many wounded this time. Mostly dead. Around two hundred.”

At his question about directions, the girl pointed towards the door and then the left. “Burpin Dragon is not far from here. About three hundred paces that way. Just off the Temple Lane.” She glanced towards the door and frowned, though it was only visible by a curl of her lips. “The rain should stop soon. You are welcome to wait for it to end in here, but I have to go back to my patients if there is nothing else you need.”

[Mikkel]

He tried not to look at her more than he had to. Beautiful women had always made him nervous.

"Yes, thank you," Mikkel said, thankful for the cover of darkness to hide his ugly scarred face. "You've been very helpful. I'll just wait out the storm and move on."

As he stood in the open doorway watching the rain poured down from the heavens, he pondered over whether or not this place was where he should have gone. Perhaps he should have stayed in Dort, things seemed so much safer there. But he could never go home, not after what he'd done...

Soon the rain stopped and he started to step out of the building. Remembering his mannors he stopped and turned around to look back on the woman who had helped him. "Thank you again," he said, finding his gaze lingering on her a bit longer than he had intended. He took a step towards the door, turning back around as he went, and smacked his head into the frame. Why did he have to be so clumsy?

He walked out into the streets in search of the Burpin' Dragon, his feet splashing in the wet streets with each step. At least the woman will think I was polite, he thought while walking and dwelling on his encounter; hideously ugly, oafish, and naiive. But polite all the same.

Turns out, for all the wrong turns he had made previously he didn't end up far from the Burpin' Dragon afterall. He stood outside the doors for a few moments, taking in the view; and then made his way inside.


[ooc: should I just end the thread here and pick up a new one in the dragon?]

[Grey Wolf]

It was not long before the rain slowed to a mere drizzle, and then stopped altogether, the air a bit colder than it has been, water dripping from rooftops and ledges. The woman turned at Mikkel's words, smiling under her hood, but did not reply, bent over a patient as she was. Even as he took a short walk to the Dragon, traffic began to grow thicker, as people began to go about their business now the rain was over.

OOC: I think it would be best to start a new thread.

[Turi]

locked, skilled, summarised, archived