RP Pirates of the Hard Nox 2

"Escape? Now, why would I want to escape, young lad? I had her right where I wanted her! You see, it hadn't been that long since I was there, and I was being followed by a squadron of warrior bees! Now, usually they'd never have gotten close, but since I'd doubled back, we were all there together! So I hopped up on the great bear's back and did a little dance up and down her hide, then dove off into the ocean! Well, with my scent all over her, the bees and the bear started in on one another, and all I'd have to do was finish off the last one standing!" A quick nod of her head and a thrust of the beribboned spear, as if this was the simplest thing in the world.

"Not that it was going to be so easy, of course, because in the meantime, I had to deal with a very impertinent squid, and- ah." The storyteller blinked, and considered her assembled audience. "And that is a story for another time. Preferably after the lot of you are quite a bit older, or I dare say your parents will string me up by my earlobes. Authority! Worst enemy out there, isn't it? Stay rebellious, my young adventurers! Never listen to a word they tell you!"
 
Ronan looked back trying to find Nessa in the crowd, but instead his eyes landed on Juniper. He smiled and waved at them, before carefully making his way through the kids to try and get to them.

"You should ask her to join your crew, she sounds quite powerful!" He said, pointing back at the colorful lady. He had heard a lot of the men complain about the ship being understaffed, which would only get worse now he'd be leaving. Ronan had helped during his time in the Nox carrying boxes and chains around, and got paid for it with coins and diamonds. He didn't understand what the coins were for, but the other men seemed to like it a lot.

***

With the two boxes, one heavy and one light in his satchel, Caleb walked into a familiar alley to find a place to eat. He hadn't been to the Last Meal before, but he'd heard the owner of the place used to be one of them. What a better place for a wanted man to hide in?

He walked in as a couple left, giggling as if they'd just gotten great news. The aos gaotha sitting alone at a table immediately caught his eye. Besides Emer, he'd never seen another in person, as few as they were. Caleb smiled and nodded at the lady, sitting AT the table across from her.
 
Shocked by Ronan's comfort with talking to someone they hardly new, Juniper hesitated a moment, unsure of how to respond. It wasn't usually their job to recruit new crew members, and it certainly wasn't typical for someone who wasn't part of the crew to tell them to do so. They looked between the two, before shaking their head. "Most of what she said is probably a lie." They felt confident in that. No one ran into such fantastical creatures so frequently, and came out of it unscathed. Sure, the creatures they had faced in the Ice Lands were even wilder than what this woman was speaking of, and of course many of them would likely repeat the stories, but they had lost people, gotten injured. It wasn't as simple as she was telling it. "She was just trying to entertain children."

Still though, their curiosity was piqued. As the kids began to clear away, the sorceress approached. "So, how much was show, and how much was real?"
 
The children were running off to wherever children ran off to. No doubt they would have stories of their own, or maybe they'd borrow one of hers. That was how stories grew, after all. Much like that one boar-

Ah, but here was someone approaching, and with questions! There were always questions! Curiosity was the spark of adventure!

Oh, but that question... she leaned forward, a bit conspiratorially. "My dear, you can't just ask a girl if they're real unless you've bought her dinner first. What do you say?"
 
With A Candle in the Window firmly in her grasp, Alys scanned over a couple pages of text, curiosity getting the better of her. It was a daunting task, but perhaps if she forced herself to read a page a day, she'd be done in a year. Seemed simple enough. Even simpler that the main heroine was an orphan, like her. Her imagination might very well run wild.

"Haven't bothered to pick up a book in fifteen years. I'm sure it'll go well," Alys murmured, her tone swaying between sarcasm and genuine cheerfulness.

But there it was, the mention of their recently departed former Captain. Though it hardly impacted her mood, the fae forced the smallest of smiles upon her lips. A bit of compassion. "Well, we mustn't let her books go to waste. Or her efforts. Even if we're hopeless."

"Thank you. For the book. And the confirmation."
 
"Well," Juniper began, hesitating a moment. "I can, and did. Not typical to ask for someone else to buy you dinner so suddenly either, I figure." Their grip on the staff tightened. Things had become more manageable the last days with it. Exposure therapy worked wonders, sometimes. "But... I have money to spare, I suppose. Do you have anywhere in particular?"

A pause, before locking their eyes onto the woman's own. "Oh, and I do expect my questions to be answered. And honestly, at that. Does that sound agreeable?"
 
"Oh, well, I am extraordinary," the woman returned to the accusation, as if this were a point of particular pride. "And anywhere you like! I enjoy adventure." Of course, she could have picked a place at random, but that wasn't as much fun as letting someone else pick one at random. Why, you never knew where you would end up!

There was a pause, and a moment where their eyes were locked, which seemed quite impertinent for a first meeting - perhaps this person should have a little talk with that squid off by the island - but no, it was all about questions and answers and... honesty.

"I... dare say, you do know you're in Leimor, don't you?" The city prided itself on many things, but being particularly honest wasn't generally regarded to be one of them. "But... it does sound interesting. Very well, lead the way, and I shall answer your questions, and we'll see where we end up after all that."
 
"I'm well aware of where we are, thank you," Juniper said, shrugging their shoulders as they began leading the pair of them towards the one nearby place, the Last Meal. They'd never been, but that was hardly something to dissuade them. Always on the lookout for new experiences, exactly why they'd grabbed the staff. They entered not long after Caleb. "I'm very much about bucking trends, though. This table good for you?" they asked, taking a seat without waiting for an answer. It was in plain view of Caleb, and though they never gave him a direct look, they knew they had backup now, in case things went south.

"So, lets start this off, yeah? What's your name?" The changeling was aware that this was extremely direct but worst case scenario, the woman would just decide to turn and walk away, and the two would likely never meet again. Or maybe she'd try to kill them, but they had an answer to that, at least.
 
The Last Meal - well that was an auspicious start to the evening, wasn't it? That was fine with the storyteller - she loved auspices.

"This table is lovely." There was a reasonably large clientele there already, but a crowd had certainly never stopped her. Why, once, she'd-

Ah. Questions. Right!

She took a seat at the table, not so much as if she owned it, but certainly as if she was renting it from a landlord of questionable repute. Names, to start, and a very good start that was! How was anyone going to tell of one's epic adventures without a name?

"Rielle Martín, Professional Adventurer." The last was obviously a title, and seemed like it should have been accompanied by a fanfare, the way she'd said it. "And yours?"
 
"Riellel, huh... quite the pretty name. Pleasure to meet you, my name is Juniper." They raised an arm, wincing as the wound in their shoulder was aggravated once more, before offering a hand to shake. That name felt almost familiar, almost as if they had heard it somewhere before, but it just simply wasn't placeable at the moment. Regardless of if the handshake was accepted or not, the sorceress continued speaking.

"Those stories you were telling were pretty grand. I do really want to know how much of it is real. If you're really that good, I might have some more adventure to send your way." The line was delivered almost like a sales pitch, paired with the most charisma infused smile a changeling who had been over a dozen other people before could manage.
 
Rielle accepted the outstretched hand, looking for a moment as if she might give it an extremely enthusiastic shake, then pausing, her eyes shifting to the other's shoulder for a moment, and quickly changing to more of a firm clasp, not using so much arm motion.

"Juniper, lovely to meet you. Shall I tell you a story?" Apparently an answer to this question was not required. "Once there was a group of people - a crew, as it were. Now, they had been around a bit, but things had been bad for them lately. Some of them were injured, some of them were dead, and whoever they'd picked up recently was hardly fit to fight. They were in a tight spot, so much so that they were a bit desperate to recruit the first person they saw who they thought might be able to fight off whatever was coming after them. They weren't exactly savory sorts, because if they had been, they'd have gone to the College rather than wasting time entertaining stories and hoping that their next adventure wouldn't end prematurely."

Rielle leaned back in her chair with a rather cocky smile. "How am I doing so far?"
 
At first, Juniper was almost scared that somehow, Rielle knew exactly everything they had been up to for the last week. As the story went on, though, the details got less specific, and the reasoning less accurate. The tension eased, and they matched her smile with one of their own, the act dropping to acknowledgement rather than persuasion. "Not quite spot on, but you've got the gist. Wouldn't say we're desperate, but... well, extra hands are always appreciated," they said, paired with a shrug. "Especially if they're as competent as you claim."

Their hand dropped back to the table, and the sorceress gave her a second look over. Those stories were embellished, surely, but there had to be some truth to it. They were hesitant to draft someone else onto the Nox, especially after the whole Beck fiasco, but Rielle seemed... less temperamental, for starters. And just as competent, at least. "So, sound like enough adventure for you? Or do you need an example, evidence? I'm... pretty positive I could convince you right now, between scars, bruises, and stories." They leaned back to match, before jolting back forwards again, a brief look of something similar to panic flashing on their face. "BUT! Almost forgot, you need to answer my question. How legit were those stories, Ms. Rielle? I do want to know what we're working with here. If you don't mind, that is."
 
A Fairy man with one eye sat across from her. Ruby had finished her soup and taken up her pen and star-charts. She was still growing accustomed to Leimor, and the perpetual glow of the city made many familiar stars difficult to pick out, so her current project was to fill in the gaps as best she could. As she noticed the stranger coming up to her, however, her personal project was set aside, in favor of picking her cards back up.

She looked neither surprised nor impressed to see him, even as her golden eyes just barely moved to take in his appearance, reading what she could from his face and clothes before he even sat. She nodded gently back, although she did not return his smile. She wore her thick fur cloak that left her neck just exposed enough to show the namesake ruby at her throat. Even while maintaining the cryptic facade, she seemed relaxed in his presence.

Even as her hands began to work the cards in a deliberate but deft shuffle, she did not speak first. It was best to let her customer tell her how they wanted this to begin.
 
A liar. It made sense. Ronan had seen people lie before, it just wasn't something that happened often amongst his people. Ronan himself was a terrible liar, he dreaded the guilt that came from making someone believe something that wasn't true. If it was for entertainment it was probably fine, but he wished she would have said so, so he wouldn't end up feeling like a fool like he was now.

Juniper left without as much as a goodbye, walking away with the liar entertainer. People were cold in the outside world, colder than they were in the Ice Lands. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Ronan turned to watch the musician play her loot. He wondered if the words she sang about were lies as well.

***

The aos gaotha seemed to think he was interested in her card games, but in reality he was thinking about Emer and how she'd feel reuniting with one of hers. Perhaps it was because she was the closest think he had for a family, or maybe, more likely, it was because of the guilt he didn't seem to get over, about how sad he had made her feel. He should have bought her a gift as well.

Caleb stood up and walked over to her table, pulling the empty chair back.

"Service here sucks, huh?" He asked casually, looking back to see Juniper walk in with a colorful redhead. They didn't seem to notice him, so he didn't bother acknowledge them and sat on the chair, clasping his hands together and resting his elbows on the table, his green eye meeting her golden ones. "How much?"
 
Ah, a smart one! Sometimes they didn't even notice when Rielle hadn't answered the question. That was the best thing about stories - you could just keep going.

"Well, I might have embellished a little. Left out a few key details. You know how it is." Did they? Perhaps, perhaps not. And what were those details? "You see, I'd gotten into a little disagreement with one of the fellows over at the college, so on account of experimental sorcery I was about six inches high at the time, and this all happened in the woods just outside of Leimor last winter. I always thought it sounded a bit more interesting if you don't mention those bits, though, what do you think?"
 
Her suspicions were correct, if delayed. He'd caught her staring, but she had caught him staring first, so it was alright, as long as it brought him here. She tapped the deck against the hard wood of the table and set it aside.

"They make up for it in food quality," she answered him. While she had exercised her voice and conversational skills in her journey, it still returned to a deep croon when she was working. She traced his gaze to the other pair, the redhead and the young person in glasses. She noted them, but kept her attention trained on him as he asked for costs.

She held up a finger, then a second, then a third, as she gestured with her other hand and listed her services. "A palm reading is one coin. Tarot, two coins. Crystal ball, three coins."

She intentionally did not specify what kind of coin. It could indicate ignorance on the part of the aos goetha, and usually that's what she wanted her customer to believe. It was only a habit recently taken here in Leimor, mostly just to see how it worked, and it had worked well so far. Most people settled for silver. She knew the ones who would do copper before they even sat down, either poor, or taking this as either a fun pastime that wasn't worth more than that or attempting to sleight her without her noticing. Those that chose gold were either wealthy, or desperate. The merchant couple had been a bit of both.

"Which I recommend depends on what you seek."
 
He couldn't help himself.

The smug grin from Naveen was returned with a stare as Emryk regarded him with the same fondness he might reserve for a stone caught within his boot. He regarded the vampire a moment longer before their paths intersected-- and before he could properly debate the ramifications of a confrontation, his hand had already shot out to grasp the man's collar, yanking him from the street as the Baron glided towards the nearest alleyway. The force would've dragged Naveen's heels along the ground, if not lifted him into the air by his shirt-- if he had been any other man, that is. Emryk imagined a bit of undead constitution afforded him quite a bit of strength, if his observation of Lucien was credible. He would need to be careful.

With a twist of his arm, Emryk moved to force Naveen against the alleyway wall, fingers still hooked into the collar of his jacket and shirt as he raised the man to the balls of his feet. The Baron crowded his personal space, but made sure to leave enough distance to react if the pair came to blows.

"I'm going to ask you a question, and you're going to tell me the truth I already know." The nostrils of his snout flared with appreciable rage, well-handled and kept leashed.

For now.

"Did you approach and threaten Emer?"
 
I sauntered from the kitchen, tail flicking languorously behind me, bright eyes glancing about the dining area with a nonchalant non-care. Business was fine. That'd make my man-thing happy. Even as I watched, more people entered - a fire-head dressed in clothes as bright as flowers, and the one beside her, sandy and laden in bands, and - oh, that was fun. Her face wasn't her own. I stared at her for a few long seconds before moving on.

The tall-prey was peddling her stories in her corner, again. Why people paid to be told lies, I could never understand. Maybe the lies made them feel comfortable. Man-things were so terribly weak, in that regard, always picking comfort over ugly truths. It was just like a tall-prey to take advantage of that. Were I bigger, I'd happily swat her aside.

Eventually, I settled by a tan-skinned man that smelled strongly of soap and anticipation. He was wanting to order. This was a good thing - food for him meant food for me, if his will was weak enough, if his hands were slow enough. Hopping onto the table beside him, I coiled my tail against his arm and meowed.
 
"Whatever takes the shortest time. He was just leaving, I imagine."

A bowl descended from behind Caleb's shoulder, hot and fragrant. It was a soup of sorts-- smelling strongly of star anise, ginger, and beef. It was put before the bird with little fanfare, and the hand that lowered the dish quickly shifted targets to deliver a momentary scratch to the back of the cat's head. The fingers were well-decorated; upon each finger, a different ring, with well-manicured nails that ended in points and a silver banglet that jittered as he flexed his fingertips to scritch the kitty. It seemed Pumpernickel had found another stray. How lovely. The contrast between chef and patron was undoubtedly apparent-- the guests, with their half-tattered rags and indiscriminant color choices, and he, with his patterned shawls, jewelry, and pristine turban. Mother above, he needed to start hiring security.

"I'm terribly sorry, but we don't serve PIRATES here!" Julian called out, turning his head to call out the word to the parlor like it was a condemnation of leprosy. The back of his hand pressed to his forehead, and he gave a laboured sigh, shaking his head. "Maybe a half-collapsed shanty at the end of the wharf is more your speed, love. Or perhaps you're better off nibbling on each other under the docks." He looked to the bird, and leaned down a bit, one hand pressing upon the edge of the table. "Watch your purse."

And then it was back to smiling at the little bastard he hadn't seen for over a decade.

"Caleb! Now isn't this a surprise. Why don't we skip the part where we pretend we're friends, and you can tell me why you're dining in my establishment dressed in clothes that make you look like a boy trying to be a man."
 
Experimental "Sorcery?"

The question came from their lips unbidden, a topic much more interesting than recruiting now at hand. "Someone from the college shrank you down, you say? That's- quite the tale, I can't lie." Juniper was, frankly, much more invested now than they likely should be, considering Rielle was already an established liar and showwoman, but they simply couldn't help theirself. "Personally, I think those bits add a bit to the tale. Though I suppose you can't go mentioning who did it to you, not here, anyways."

To be able to survive something like that, if it were true, was impressive. They still felt their stories of the last days would have been more impressive, but that was in part ego. "I'm almost hesitant to pull you away from your adventurous life now, Ms. Rielle. Maybe you're a bit more than I gave you credit for."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top