Sabata: Reiker ~ Through the Looking Glass [Sam 29th]

Post by **Maeve** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 5:49 pm

With a sudden thud Reiker ended on the other end of the portal. The first thing he noted was sand. It was everywhere. In his ears, his eyes, his nose, his mouth.

The second thing that reached through his dim awareness was the sound of people. Talking, laughing, carts pushing by.

Reiker · Post by **Reiker** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:17 pm

"Dammit," he cursed as soon as the sand blasted his face.

He covered his eyes as the sand stung him and its small grains grazed his skin. He thanked nothing, for he had no god, for the clothes he wore as he continued to swear, "Damn bitch sent me here even when I told her I'm a walking out the gates? Shite! Now where the bloody hell am I?"

He gazed around him, under the shadow of his arm, and noticed people, more people, and, yeah, people and other shite he didn't give a damn about. He walked of to a place where the sand didn't blow mud in his eye ,and stood there to recollect his place in the world.

I don't know where I am.
I hate that Bitch.

Was pretty much the entire content of his brain for the time.

He didn't want to move around much so he stayed there looking at people and tried to forget the bitch ass pain in the ass and think about something useful. He thought about his goals for the day and remembered his earlier self appointed tasks. He needed to get rid of his noisy armor and find the toughest bracers and blades he could find. Then find coin for food. Didn't know which came first though. Coin or errands.

He still had money left from wasting his time learning nothing in Dragonskeep except good and evil trash though, so he went on to explore the place and made sure he heard someone speak his language. He needed to find an arms shop and then work.

This place was busy. It irritated him.

Post by **Maeve** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 7:07 pm

The port city of Sabata is really the only city in Terra Incognita. On one side lies an ocean of water, and on the other an ocean of sand. Between these the dome city has settled on a broad expanse of solid rock, which clearly defines its borders despite its lack of walls. Each dome is tent-like in appearance, and from every surface protrude spikes, giving the whole city an unwelcome and threatening appearance.

Despite this appearance, the city is known for its welcoming of foreigners and the trade they bring. The streets are wide and filled with vendors of every goods from across the known world, along with its own unusual goods. Where vendors have not taken up residence, entertainers have. Acrobats, snake charmers, musicians and poets fill the city with music and noise that rises above the hawkers shouting there wares and bartering outrageously with prospects.

The city is composed of three main domes, canopying the sky. One shelters mostly businesses and offices, the central dome hovers over the Great Market, and the Third covers the wealthiest of the residential districts. There are other smaller domes scattered around each within the main city wall, like chicks clustered around three mother hens. These tend to house newcomers, sailors and people of the Sands who choose to live part of the year within the city to trade. Lanes and then broad streets connect the domes, usually covered over as well, the shade and sea breezes making the punishing sun more bearable.

Within each dome, great or small, streets and lanes are laid out largely in a spiral or circular pattern, conforming to the domes overhead. Many of these cummulate in a central court, often with a public well or fountain, kept supplied by the underground rivers of fresh water beneath the city itself.

Reiker found himself in the middle of the city, to the side of a busy road. Domes left and right. The color of sand was dominating but there were others, orange, brown, black, all the colors of spice, a scent that was prevalent in the dry warm air. He was where the portal had promised to take him. The mirror had not however created any sense of purpose, no clear path for him to walk. If Dragonskeep had appeared rugged, Sabata was alien, different from anything Reiker had experienced every before.

He noted that close by there was a market.

Reiker · Post by **Reiker** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 3:08 pm

OOC: Uy! Tenk You por the heads up ma'am. Will reply accordingly.

IC:

"I hate this place," he muttered.

A blade glinted from his form as he walked the streets exploring much of what he could understand. He heard muttering and yelling dominating much of the talk between men here and it caused his clench on his blade to tighten. The smell of alien spices creeped through his lungs and he sneezed at the stench. He drifted away from the unwelcome auras and caught himself leaning on a wall, breathing heavily.

He set his newfound blade on the earth, its point stabbing the sand, his hands jerking close and open while they rested on the pommel. Rags served as its sheath and didn't even cover the entire blade. It was a parting gift from a woman he didn't even know before he was blasted here halfway across who knows where. He was just sure it was full of sand. That was it, sand. He grunted and scowled as the grains grazed his face as the wind blew.

He noticed it, after trailing the constant bustle of countless throngs. He noticed they always led to the same place. He took it as their market. He heard metal chink within clothes and in between hands. He heard barking men, arguing men.

He looked at the crowd once more and sighed as he knew what he had to do to finish his day. Already missing the slight shelter of being alone, he pushed himself onward to get on with it. He slung his rag-clothed blade on his shoulder and said to the nearest monger he understood to be a monger, "You speak common mate?" He said it roughly, enriched with the banditry and common blood of his past. "Know anyone who buys used armor and smiths swords?" Three earing struck to his left ear glinted and clinked as he spoke without smile.

OOC:
Reminder to Self:
Sword, Broad (2 hands)
Longer version of the one-handed broad sword. Standard length is 4.5 feet(1.4m). Standard weight of 8 pounds (3.6kg).
(Sword from the Personal Armory of Count Drakedoder of Dragon's Keep. The handle is embedded with chips of jade and obsidian - the colors of the Drakedoder family.)

This sword is handled the same way as the usual greatsword or Zweihander right? Almost same size too right?

Morg · Post by **Morg** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 3:19 pm

(OOC: Yep, that's right. Bit smaller than your average ZweihÃ¤nder but still wielded like one, using both hands.)

The man Reiker addressed was several spans shorter than him, with skin that looked like it had been sandblasted, leathery and wrinkled. He could see that the young man had no interest in his own wares, which consisted mainly of various clay pots of assorted sizes. Nevertheless, his response was prompt and warm.

"We speak your tongue here, guarrdi," the monger replied, in a rasping voice that sounded in itself like windblown sand. "But we are given to speak with our own words and style." That much was already clear, as the man's voice was heavily accented, bearing a sing-song intonation. He had to speak loudly to avoid being drowned out by the warbling of a string instrument Reiker didn't recognise, in the hands of a large, ugly street musician. "For the working of metal there is one outside the main domes." He gestured towards a busy thoroughfare leading out of the Great Market dome. "Magholan of the Green and of the Red. The forge has a dome for its own. You will know it by the smoke that pours out of the top." He smiled nervously, revealing a row of surprisingly white teeth.

Reiker · Post by **Reiker** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:12 pm

OOC: Thanks for the reiecieve man. Gaius didn't tell you anuything of the things I wanted? Well they're pretty simple. I'll PM you soon about them.

IC:

"I'll be looking for it," Reiker said, with a twitch in his lips, "And thanks."
He turned and left just as simply as he had come to the merchant.

He walked the crowds once more, his hands twitching with the rythm of people bumping him, and made rat like squeeks with his teeth each time they bumped him. He looked down at the bustling see of endless faces and frowned.

He hurried his pace towards the end of the crowds and breathed heavily and rapidly as he did so. The blood within his veins flowed and boiled with his breathing and the outside seemed like an eternity to reach.

He breathed in as deeply as he could, but sand made him cough and ruined the freshness of the outside. He stooped over coughing out the sediments and saliva dribbled from his lips. He wiped them of with his sleeve and grunted, then growled, before he clenched his free hand and struck a wall as he passed it.

He watched the sky for the trail of smoke and found it nearby. It was thick and black, and it was the only pillar he could see. He brushed his lower lip with a thumb and followed the smoke.

He found it quickly, it wasn't much of a smithy, but he found it. He entered the domain of the smith, and asked, "You fix blades and buy stuff made of metal?"

Morg · Post by **Morg** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:33 pm

The smallish dome outside the centre of Sabata to which Reiker was directed was indeed not difficult to find. It was circular, with stone and plaster walls up to about head height, the roof made up of stretched, cured animal skins with a smokehole in the centre to channel the fumes from the forge construction beneath.

The woman to whom Reiker addressed his question looked up from her workbench, where she was examining a pair of long daggers, and nodded. Very unusually for a woman, she was as tall as Reiker, towering over the two smaller, stockier men labouring at the forge. Like most of the People of the Sands, she was dark-haired and dark-skinned, her hair mostly held back in a leather cap on her head. As broad-shouldered and muscular as most men, she nonetheless had a finely curvaceous figure, accentuated by the light vest and baggy breeches she wore.

"I do that," she replied bluntly. "Do you have something for me, guarrdi? Wanting to give up the life of a warrior and settle down for the quiet life, are we?" The woman's irreverent tone was well-practised. It sounded like she made a similar jibe every time a new customer entered her domain.

Reiker · Post by **Reiker** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 11:38 am

"Don't know don't care," He blurted out as he neared her to better explain his point. He tried to find a seat, and as he did so he continued to speak, "I have some stuff I want to get rid of and this here sword to-," he stopped talking as he set the rag-clothed blade he carried to eye level. He noticed the queerness of its design, the obsidian and jade stones, and blurted out, "What the hell is this shite?"

He put it off though and went on, "I want the hilt lengthened to half of the blade length and make it thicker and sturdy. I also want a strong metal ring attached to the pommel, large enough for three fingers to hold effectively and I want one edge of the blade serrated, enough that when struck upon something its sticks there unless you push it forward."

"If I don't have enough money for the work you can take some of my armor, if it still ain't enough I'll come back with the money. And also, I'd like the same treatment with my knives but the holes could fit about only two fingers."

"By the way. What you do here now with my blades, I'd like to ask you not to spread it. If you do spread it. Well. I don't know."

Morg · Post by **Morg** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:20 pm

Magholan crossed her arms under her breasts as a broad, approving grin spread across her face. "You have grand ideas, young man," she replied. "It's going to get you a discount. Smithing this is going to be fun."

After eyeing the sword hungrily for a while longer, she spoke up again, this time more slowly. "For payment... I want that suit." She indicated Reiker's brigandine. "I'll take that up front, but I'll also want another two coronets when the job's done. And I get to keep the stones from the hilt. In return you get the services of the best metalworker in Sabata. I'll put my other jobs aside for this one. You can come back at dawn tomorrow to collect."

"Oh, and you don't need to worry about secrecy," she added. "I don't want my rivals in on this, if it proves to be a good idea. The only people who'll see the work are myself and my two assistants, and these drebi-ferkits won't spread it because I'll kill them myself if they do." She smiled toothily and continued to stand there with her arms folded, waiting for Reiker's response.

Reiker · Post by **Reiker** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:44 pm

"Sure. Okay. I guess I'll just have to trust you on that."

He unstrapped his brigandine off and tossed it to the smith. The knives he stuck to his back were taken off too, and with his larger sword, gave it to her.

"I'll have the coronets by tomorrow. If by then I'd still won't get the money-" he grunted, "I'll get the gold. Just do your part well on this."

He turned to leave and went on searching for his part of the deal. He stretched his arms outside to feel the freedom of his body, and smiled.

He started to walk and went straight for the only place he knew he'd find money, the market.

OOC: I'll join the mercenary thread, maybe, if it's still going to get me in on the war.

Morg · Post by **Morg** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 11:35 pm

Magholan watched him go with a smile on her forge-blackened face. She liked this guy. He had some novel ideas, but he didn't bullshit about it. To a smith usually faced with either "If I might trouble you, milady, I wish for the finest blade in all of the Western Continent" or simply "I want a big sword", Reiker and his new weapon concepts were a breath of fresh air. "All right, you wretches," she hollered to her assistants as he left. "Drop all that. We finish this by dawn, you scum get an extra day off. Now get those flames roaring!"

The market was as crowded and noisy as Reiker remembered it. Traders loudly hawked their wares across the spice-scented space between stalls. The big man with the jangling lute-thing was still playing loudly, and here and there raggedly dressed urchins, children of the People of the Sands settled in the city, scampered about beneath the adults' notice.

(OOC: Go right ahead and join in the recruitment thread - it'll get you to the war all right. You can assume that you picked up the weapons and that the modifications were made as you requested them. I'll update your inventory soon.

At the same time you're welcome to continue here for a while.)

Reiker · Post by **Reiker** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:21 pm

OOC: Cool but I think I'll lay around here just for a few posts. BTW. The blades aren't the only mods I'm thinkin up. I'm thinkin of offensive armor too but that'll have too wait till Reiker........Does something he wants done. Maybe I could sing up and assume that I haven't gotten the blades yet and just signing up for the advance money.

IC:
Reiker stood to the very place he knew everyone would hear him. He gargled his breath and breathed in as much wind as he could, and screamed, "Anyone here want something done by force? Violent man for hire!"

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:44 am

There was something faintly reassuring about Sabata in Samheen - the heat of the air, the smell and bustle of the familiar streets and the sounds of familiar accents, and sun on your face and the light breeze blowing in from the desert, tugging at your clothes. It had taken over a tenday to travel here by wagon, and finally released from the cart's comfortable rocking arms, Domino walked the streets of her home town with a faint smile playing upon her lips. It was surprisingly good to be home, akin to finding an unexpected waterhole in the sand after a day of thirst... or four years of thirst. It had been such a terribly long time, hadn't it? And yet, here she was once more. Back in Sabata. It felt good.

Domino Cole wasn't here to simply walk the streets, she had business to attend to; but for the time being, she allowed that to fall to the wayside in favour of pleasantly wandering through her old haunts, the streets she'd forgotten she knew so well. She was in no real hurry. Some things had changed, of course, but not enough to dispell the haze of reminiscence that had overcome her now. For the moment, she wandered - somewhat unclean from her travel, dust in her knotted ropes of hair, and colouring her clothes a faint subdued tan, a scent of days of sweat mingling with her soft perfume. Her feet had lead her, unerringly, to the Great Market - people hawking their wares from dusty blankets or from covered tables. And yet more familiarity here, since though she had not seen the place in many, many moons, she knew the market of any town very well indeed. This was the place in which she made her own living, of course. It brought another brief, private smile to her lips to think of the hours she had spent walking between these stalls as a child, before she had travelled away and become a trader herself. It had come full-circle, it seemed. There was a kind of symmetry to it, a balance she found irresistable.

There is balance in all things. You cannot create something without first giving something away, first law of alchemy. So perhaps Sabata gave me away, and in that created me...? Which would make me a... AH!

Suddenly, directly in her ear, a loud and bellowing voice roared out, "ANYONE HERE WANT SOMETHING DONE BY FORCE? VIOLENT MAN FOR HIRE!"

Domino promptly shrieked, whipped around, and tripped over her skirts at the feet of Reiker. In her happy daydreams, she'd wandered directly up to the stranger without noticing for a moment that he intended to start yelling at the top of his lungs. "By the gods...!" She gasped, shook herself, resting a hand on her pounding heart, "You scared the skin off me! What do you think you are doing, yelling in the ears of young ladies?"

Reiker · Post by **Reiker** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:35 am

Reiker looked her up and down, "You're young?"

He looked at her more clearly, "Well I guess you are a lady."

He turned her back on her and walked a few paces away before resuming his screaming, "Violent man for hire!" He didn't have time for arguing with anyone.

OOC: Eyy. Hope to play with ya good. Hope Morgan told me there was a new player so I could've 'ave at least prepped myself.

Morg · Post by **Morg** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:18 pm

(OOC: Reiker, however you want to play it with the blades is fine by me. I suggest joining the mercenary thread soon though, otherwise you might miss out! You're welcome to be in both threads at once. And sorry for not telling you... I had no idea that Domino would pop up in this thread either. As for you, Domino: welcome to Sabata!

)

For Domino, the city was indeed much as it had been before she'd left; even more so, in some respects. Sabata had always been known for the multitude and variety of people of different cultures that walked its streets, and this diversity was more in evidence than ever before. Slim Adhiel brushed past soberly dressed Mouthie merchants, and two dark-skinned Amunic men were strolling the market, chatting animatedly as they gestured to various items on offer. Of course, the signs of the city's origins in the so-called People of the Sand were still everywhere to be found. Sabata wasn't about to forget its roots.

Reiker's loud advertisement might have aroused horror and disgust in most other parts of Tazlure, but this was Sabata, where lawlessness and violence were still widely considered commodities much like any other. As such, his outbursts were even ignored by many of the marketgoers, the traders merely redoubling their own efforts and trying to outshout him. Nevertheless, he certainly succeeded in drawing some attention, especially from one man, a young blonde fellow in a long brown coat who had been leaning nonchalantly against a stall pole. He murmured something to his companion, who chuckled, then he stepped forward.

"Hey, violent man!" he called to Reiker, more than a little amusement in his Western-accented voice. "I'll give you a circlet if you can get rid of that bastard." He jerked his thumb in the direction of the massive busker playing his jangling lute-like instrument, who was now singing lustily along with his playing.

The ugly musician stopped playing, turned and scowled in the direction of the blonde newcomer. "Drebi-ferkit," he spat.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:00 am

OOC: for goodness sake, guys! Stop getting your panties in a bunch! Strangers turn up in IRL all the time, and I really didn't think I needed to give either of you advance warning before I turn up in a public thread! ;) Now, lets get to some posting, eh, and leave this chatting for elsewhere?
-----------------------------

He was very rude, that much was obvious.

"Don't offer to help a girl up, no... I'm fine..." Domino muttered as she scrambled to her feet, and with one practised sweep shook the sand and dust from her skirts. The stranger had gone right back to bellowing his inept message, and unsurprisingly, it wasn't working very well. She watched for a moment, with a faint smile playing at her lips.

You've never done this before, have you...? You've not got the first idea how to sell yourself. Sooo.... maybe I should show you how's it's done...?

Something in her smile became a little wicked then, as an idea began to form. Quickly, she dropped her leather backpack into the dirt and fished through - just inside, tucked inside a fold of her blanket, she had a few small packets she'd pre-prepared. First rule of selling yourself, you've got to get everyone's attention...

They were actually very simple little devices, when you thought about it. Inside a twist of paper, nitre mixed with charcoal and sulphur, a ratio of about 15:3:1 by weight. Black powder. Domino had taken the time to prepare a few of these during the long journey, for she found the little firecrackers invaluable in attracting an audience. There was nothing like a little razzle-dazzle to attract a bit of attention to yourself. This little packet had a long paper tail to it, and around it was a second twist of paper, twisted around. And inside this, a little buffer wall of bismuth and copper filings. Not too much, just enough, seperated from the black powder by a thin wall of paper. The entire thing was barely the size of a very small walnut. Of course, it was a little more dangerous than that.

Seems a bit of a waste... She pondered, bouncing the thing on the palm of her hand. She was out of charcoal, so there would be no more black powder to make more of these little fireworks, and she only had this and three others remaining - but then, she supposed, charcoal wasn't so hard to come by, not like some of her other ingredients. And it would be an awful lot of fun, wouldn't it...?

Selling herself - her mystic persona, and her fake wares as a result - was something Domino had been doing for the past four years. She had become rather good at it, as a result. And really, the fun of it couldn't be passed up, now could it? Without much hesitation, she dipped the end of the little parcel's paper wick in the nearest candle, stepped in front of Reiker in one easy move, and tossed it into the air.

BOOM!

A loud, gunshot retort, loud enough to be heard on the other side of the great dome of the Market - and as the gunpowder ignited and blew out, the filings and bismuth caught in a great billow of blue-green flame. A display that nobody could fail to notice. And all in a tiny little paper packet... thought Domino with a smile, her arms raised above her head so that when everybody turned to see what the hell that colourful explosion was about, they would see instantly who their attention should be on.

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls of all ages! Here is an opportunity that cannot be passed up, a once in a lifetime chance!" She began in a loud, commanding voice, "Step right up to hire the services of the finest sword and bravo this side of the Seven Seas! The Slayer of the Red Serpent, destroyer of the Bloody Bandits of the South, and Saver of Souls!" Of course, this was all utter bullshit - Domino did not have the first clue of this mercenary's credentials. But the idea was to show him how it should be done - and this was what selling things was all about; plenty of bullshit to sugar the sale. It almost never failed, "And here, for your pleasure and coin, he stands before you for your very own cause! Ask yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, is this an opportunity you can afford to pass up?"

She was getting into the swing of things now, and playing for the crowd - it felt good. It always felt good.

"Are you fed up of bandits attacking your caravans? Just a small investment in this man can protect your wares from thieves of all kinds! Are undesirable men getting into your house at night? Hire this man to sleep safely at night! Are your daughters afraid to walk the streets at night? Or maybe your wife is playing around and you want to teach the bastard who caught her eye a lesson? This man is the answer to all of your problems! Ladies and gentlemen, step this way to hire yourself the best piece of muscle in all Sabata, or curse yourself tomorrow when your business rival got here first!"

Taking a deep breath, she paused, ready for the reaction of the crowd. In her experience, that should sell him marvellously well. Out of the corner of his mouth she muttered to Reiker, "And that, my dear, is how it should be done. No need to thank me, I've noticed that your manners don't match your muscles..." And then she looked to him, and shot him a friendly grin.

Reiker · Post by **Reiker** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 12:54 pm

"Sure, whatever. Didn't make much of a difference anyway," he proclaimed to her as he passed her to talk to the blond. "By the way, I'm unarmed."

It wasn't that he didn't like Domino, he was just to into his task at hand. Truth is, he didn't really give a damn whether Domino was there or not. It didn't matter to him. He walked away from her like before and neared the man that offered him a circlet. He looked at him clear to see if he was good for it and then looked at the musician. His lips twitched to one side as he realized this man wasn't much of a threat, even if he was unarmed.

"Oi! You sure? How big a rid do you want him gotten rid off?" he asked in a shout at the blondie.

OOC: No worries Domz. Just kinda thought I was goin' off solo on this one. Welcome anyway.

Morg · Post by **Morg** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 11:33 am

Despite Reiker's proclamation, Domino's actions had made a difference, and a noticeable one at that. A man shouting loudly in the Great Market was an event so common it was barely an event at all. Women shouting, on the other hand, were that much rarer... and especially women shouting in such a theatrical manner. Of course, the pyrotechnics didn't hurt, either.

The effect was, however, somewhat spoiled by the fact that Reiker looked as if he wanted to have as little to do with her as possible. This made it difficult for observers to know what to make of the situation, and some got the wrong end of the stick entirely. One wrinkled old woman shuffled past Domino, mumbling her disapproval. "If ye want to sell him, d'war, ye'd best take him te Silberstein's. The Market's no place for slave trading." Another member of her audience, a young man with long, dark hair behind a chandler's stall, yelled back to her. "Hey, girl, I'll do you a deal. Me for him!" He grinned daringly.

Yet more people's eyes were fixed on Domino. A tall, stern-jawed man with a Western air to him, his black hair threaded with silver, had looked up from his perusal of a souvenir stand and was scrutinising her carefully.

The only person who seemed a little put out by the scene was the blonde-haired main who'd initially addressed Reiker. Quickly he slipped a circlet coin from his pocket and held it up for the mercenary to see. It seemed that he didn't want any competition on his offer. "How big a rid? Well, I'd say about a circlet's worth of rid," he replied. "Maybe more if you do it smooth. And there might be more work on the horizon, too."

Throughout all this the musician continued to play, albeit more slowly, keeping a watchful eye on Reiker, Domino and the man in the leather coat as he did so. He was tall - his shaven head topped out half a handspan above Reiker's - and heavily muscled, although not without a few layers of flab. Aside from his ear-assailing "instrument", he was unarmed.

Reiker · Post by **Reiker** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:33 pm

OOC: I Posted at Mercenary recruitment already mod boss.

IC:

Reiker looked at the coin and then at the blondie. He sized him up and down on his offer and cracked his knuckles.

"By smooth you mean he dies without notice? I can't do that cause it needs planning. I need the money now and just enough to pay off a debt. I don't need anymore jobs and I need one quick earning. So I'll give you another deal. Give me more, or I'll wrest every piece o valuable shite off you right now, with my bare hands."

He stepped closer to him until they mixed their breaths, "I need more, cause I'm going to do it now, and with nothing but my hands.

I don't have my kill-stuff with me and I need the coin fast and bulky. Understand?

So you better give me something more than that or you'll get on the wrong side of a free deal. Don't worry. I'm a fair man. Who knows. If you accept, I might get killed right now and you wouldn't have to worry.

If I do get the bugger killed, well, you'd have to pay up. If you don't pay up. I'll find you until I get bored and look for another job, but I promise you this. I won't forget your face, and, one way or another, I will kill you.

Bored or not."

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:21 am

"Pfft." A small noise of annoyance, but little else. She'd gone out of her way to help this stranger... well, perhaps not. A combination of her naturally helpful, nosy nature combined with a compulsive desire to show off, perhaps... but it had turned out that not only was he rude, he was a moron. A complete idiot. Probably why he was so rude, really - didn't have the brains to realise the smart route to take.

She folded her arms, and aimed an unimpressed look at the back of his head. He'll probably get himself killed shortly anyway, if he really thinks the best way to make money round here is to threaten random strangers... hah! Best get out of here, then... can't be seen to associate with thuggish morons!

Domino mostly ignored the crowd, since she hadn't intended to sell them her own (questionable) wares anyway, offering them a slight, ironic bow and then shouldering her pack to leave. It had been a long journey to Sabata, and she suddenly had a mind to take a nice long relaxing bath. The bath-houses weren't too far from here, were they? She failed to notice the sudden, inscrutable interest of the Western stranger at the souvenier stall, and even if she had she might not have acted upon it. Attention and superstition were too things she attracted far too frequently to notice the occasional odd look, particularly in a crowd of people.

Pity I wasted that firework on him, though... and I'm out of charcoal too, so I can't make any more. Mmm. Maybe while I'm here I should pick some up... She considered, as she adjusted the shoulder straps and started to wander away between the stalls, her mind back on alchemy and other important things... few people could bother Domino for any length of time. She simply never took the time to care.

Morg · Post by **Morg** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 12:00 pm

It was clear to Reiker that he'd overstepped the mark as soon as he advanced on the man in the leather coat. The man didn't wait for him to close the distance... instead he took several steps back, confusion showing on his face. He wasn't looking for a confrontation, just a little entertainment, and the situation was taking a turn not to his liking.

"I guess the deal's off, then, violent man," he replied hurriedly. He's certainly not overselling himself. He really is violent. Threatening a potential employer? "I don't have the coin to spend more on getting rid of a loser like him. Hey, brutto," he called over to the musician. "This is for you. You've earned it." So saying, he flicked the circlet coin towards the man. It landed with a clink in a cloth bag at the musician's feet, together with several other contributions that people had made. He then took a few more large steps backwards before turning and simply walking away.

The coin... representing only an eighth of what Reiker would need to pay off his debt... was still within reach, at the musician's feet, along with several other coins, banners and a few lances, probably amounting to as much again. Of course, the musician's probable reaction should he try to take it was obvious. Another course of action would be to attempt to take down the retreating blonde man. However, although the man himself wasn't looking in Reiker's direction, his companion, a short man who looked like a manservant/bodyguard of some kind and had a heavy mace and a dagger strapped to his waist, was keeping a wary eye on the "violent man" as he accompanied his master away from the scene.

Reiker · Post by **Reiker** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 4:19 pm

"Damn you," he muttered under his breath.

He looked at the coins laid at the musician's feet and the degree of arming his companion held. It pained him to do anything at all, in truth he was confused, because now he didn't know what to do.

He'd just as much like to lay his hands on the musician just to spite the shorty with the mace, but no. What he would do would be stealing, and he never stole anything he wasn't supposed to.

He was all up for a job and he never did anything beyond a job. Now, with his purpose lost, he gritted his teeth and cracked his knuckles as he clenched them hard.

He really didn't like the impression he thought he was imposing, and he really couldn't bear himself to follow the useless blondie to kill him, but he really knew he wanted to mangle the fuckbuggers assing off his nerves.

He couldn't bring himself to continue what he did earlier. He was shamed and it did funny things with his head. He turned to the music man and a thought occurred to him. He walked up to him and asked, "What's your meat ass problem with him?"

Morg · Post by **Morg** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 9:53 pm

The big musician seemed rather surprised at being addressed by Reiker. He shrugged his broad shoulders. "I dunno," he replied listlessly. "Never met the ferkit before. Sounds like he didn't like my music." The man's voice was rueful.

"Not surprised, either, while I'm playing this piece of shit," he added, hefting his stringed instrument as if he were going to smash it into the ground - which of course he didn't. It didn't take a skilled craftsman to see that the worksmanship of the instrument was very poor. The neck was wonky, the joints out of place, and one of the strings was already broken. It couldn't have cost more than a couple of circlets when bought, and was worth even less.

To his credit, the ugly man didn't give this as his only excuse. "My fingers aren't used to playing it," he continued. "I wasn't half bad on my old one. A beautiful piece of kit. My mother used to play it. But some little beshi bastard stole it while I was taking a leak." Though Reiker might not have realised it, the man's colourful mixture of local language and universal curses was something very typical to Sabata.

Reiker · Post by **Reiker** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:53 pm

He thought hard on it, but then the decision prevailed upon him.

"I'll get it back to you for what the blondie gave you, but before that. How bout we fight?"

Morg · Post by **Morg** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 5:30 pm

The tall musician frowned. "You're just looking to stir some shit, aren't you?" he growled. "I don't want to fight you, but I guess I can't stop you from trying. And if you do, I guess I'll just have to kick your guarddi ass back to whatever stinking hole you crawled out of."

Lowering his arms, he let his stringed instrument fall unceremoniously to the ground. The bulky man just stood there, feet half a pace apart and arms hanging by his sides in a posture of readiness. His deep-set eyes regarded Reiker darkly, and his mouth rested in a resigned but confident grimace. He didn't seem too upset about the prospect of a confrontation. It would likely make a change from being heckled by marketgoers as he played, at any rate.