Taethil: Demons of the East [ IC ]

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List of Currently Accepted Characters:

UnfunnyPete: Lanius, self proclaimed King of Taethil.

GallifreyanOddy: Ryska, Lanius' personal Guard and Assassin.

Superfly: Nathaniel Avaar, the bastard child.

iKo99: Nei, the thief.

xXCrazyJXx: Reaper Seraphin 'Cross'.

More Pending...

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The architecture of the Spire had always been somewhat of a curiosity to Lanius; its structure seemed to pull in whatever light it could from the sky, be it from the sun or the moon, and reflect this light into the Throne room. The oval shape of the grand hall where his Throne sat, along with the curvature of the walls, meant that the light faintly reflected off every surface, keeping it naturally lit both night and day. He had no knowledge of he who build this magnificent Spire in the centre of his Kingdom, it having existed for countless generations of his blood-line, but the architect was either a master-craftsman, or inhumanly lucky in the placement of his master piece. AS he sat atop his Throne, he realised how much he detested the natural light that constantly filled his domain; perhaps when his Kingdom was once again safe under his rule, he would pull this Spire to the ground and build something of his own creation atop the rubble. Yes, he quite liked that idea.

All of these thoughts were simply distractions, from the ludicrously insulting task that lay before him; the beggar man sat on his knees, pleading with Lanius, his wife beside him, with her eyes filled with shame for her husbands failures as both a husband and a man. Lanius smirked; did this man expect pitty? Justice? It didn't matter much.

His elite Guard of Legionnaire forces stood as they always did along the walls of his grand hall; their swords sheathed, their charcoal black armour shimmering from the light, and their bodies upright and still, as though they were made of stone. His personal Court sat high above in the almost endless stretch of the hall, sat amongst the scarlet balconies that filled the walls above; the ceiling stretched upwards almost endlessly, as though it were attempting to reach the sky itself, its crystal white walls a monument to what the Kingdom had created for the past millenium. A few of the lower classes also filled his hall, held back by the Guards, watching this elderly man plead with their King.

Finally, his attention returned to the man and his wife, his smirk faded, replaced with a vacant, blank expression as he stared into the withering eyes of this man.

"What brings you to my Court?" His voice, the only voice to have echoed the halls for the past few moments, other than constant whispers, filled the hall.

The mans voice was frail, however; weak. "Plea... please, Sir. Our land ha... has been seiged by your Guard. We only ask for more time to pay your taxes and the return of our land."

Lanius' expression twisted slightly, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "Oh, is that all? Well certainly it would be in my best interest to allow that." As he heard Lanius's words, the mans pleading eyes turned, a look of relief filling him. Pitiful. "Yes, it would certanly be in my best interest, as ruler of the powerful Kingdom of Taethil, the allow you more time to pay my gracious taxes, wouldn't it?" He paused after that last word, waiting for a reply from the elderly man that never came, to which he reiterated his last words harshly. "Wouldn't it?"

"Ye... yes, Sir." He quivered, all the while his wife simply looked terrified at the circumstances they found themselves, with good reason.

Lanius stood from his Throne, his long fur cloak hanging at his feet. He walked down the few steps at which his Throne sat atop, and towards the center of the hall, where the man and his wife knelt. He stood, looking down at the man, whom hoped for a merciful ending to this meeting; he would be disappointed. "Stand. Both of you." They immediately complied with this order. Lanius walked around them, circling them as though he were a shark following its prey. "I'm going to give you an ultimatum. You can either accept your land as forfeit to my Court, and leave with nothing into a life of poverty, or... you can trade your spouse as forfeit, and have your land back for a short while whilst you raise the funds to pay the Courts tax." As Lanius finished his words, he stood infront of the two, awaiting a response.

"Wha... what? But... Okay, okay. I choose the second!" The old man spoke, his wife's expression turning to that of disgust as the old man effectively signed her death warrant. Lanius simply smiled, before uttering a few more words.

"I wasn't talking to you." He finished, looking at the old man with a devilish grin, before turning to his wife. "Make your choice."

The wife now looked at her husband, no love in her eyes. The husband looked terrified, as he quite rightly should be. "I choose the second option." Her words spat towards her failure of a husband.

"Quite right." Lanius replied. "Guards, see to it this woman is given her land back, and a few more weeks to pay the tax, which is now doubled. As for the pitiful excuse of a man whom just so happily tried to make his wife pay for his failures... I think a public execution at dawn is a fitting punishment for such as cowardly dog." His words finished with a gesture of his hand, as his Guards carried to two away. Sat down on his Throne, he looked up to the balconies his Court rested in, almost challenging any of them to question his rule.

Of course, none of them dared.

“Four hundred.” Lord Vosler said as he massaged his pointed goatee while he stood in a small dark alley that smelled like piss. His hands began to caress the impressive pelt that had once belonged to the largest lioness Nathaniel had ever seen. Many men and soldiers spoke of the beast, often lying into their cups saying they survived an encounter. Nathaniel considered Vosler’s offer for a couple of seconds before laughing.

“You’re kidding?” He smirked as his fingers slipped into his pockets. “Not a single coin under twelve hundred.”

“Twelve hundred? I could have led a sortie in it myself for half that cost. Four hundred is my final offer,” Vosler scowled and placed both his hands on the pelt.

“Yes, and lost your sortie in the process, my lord Vosler,” Nathaniel put the weight of his arms on the pelt and met the eye contact of his better. “One man, two weeks hunting the creature and two days in combat with the beast makes it worth twelve. My final offer.”

It had been exhilarating. The lioness was bigger than any creature he had encountered in his life, and by the gods was she fast. She was hunted through the woods, and Nathaniel had managed to stick an arrow right in her foot. It had slowed her down drastically and left a trail. Despite being wounded she still put up quite the fight. Nathaniel had to take flight up a tree until she left him alone and retreated. They played this game for hours, Nathaniel hunting, the Lioness countering with everything she had. The hunt had finally come to an end on the second day when the Lioness slowed down from exhaustion. Nathaniel had placed an arrow in her torso, and then placed a final one in her throat, finishing the creature before she could suffer anymore. The most difficult part came after she was dead when Nathaniel had to find a way to get her pelt back to the city, but he had managed.

“Eight hundred. Anything more and I have you cuffed in irons for a month.”

“Twelve hundred,” Nathaniel repeated firmly, never lifting his eyes from Vosler. Not even daring to blink. “Any less and you have to tell your noble buddies that your best skill is only stealing other people’s hunts. Badly, might I add.”

“Damn you to hell, bastard.” Vosler spat. He began counting out his coin and handled a small sack of money towards the hunter. Nathaniel recounted just to be sure he was getting what he was due. When all was said and done the lord Vosler reunited with his guard with the giant pelt under a large blanket. The pelt was pulled away secretly by a couple of horses and several city guards.

When the hunter was alone he tossed the bag of coins up in the air and punched the air with joy while catching it again. Twelve hundred coins would get a man a lot. It would feed him for a month he was sure, but food was boring. It wasn’t often that he had this much coin at once after all. And a hard working man deserved to reward himself every now and again, no? He stepped out of the alley and placed his foot into a large pile of horse shit. Nathaniel looked down and was quiet for a long while. After he had taken his foot from the huge pile of shit and finished contemplating he burst into a loud fit of laughter. “A horse it is, oh cruel fate.” He tossed the bag up in the air and caught it once more before walking down the bustling street.

It was a nice day. It was warm and dry, a good day. It were such days that Nei would be wandering the streets for hours, looking out for unattended items, mostly money or food. On this day too, he strolled over the market, his dirty hands buried in the pockets of his pants, the black hooded cloak over his shoulder to hide his red hair. By now he had already heard of quite a few people, when gossiping in bars over a drink, who complained about a young thief with red hair that had robbed them off their money. The more people knew of him the more dangerous it got for him. People were on their guard, checking their belongings every so often. Of course he was far from being the only thief in this vast city. It were dangerous times. The brutal rule of the king had driven many people into ruin and the defeat of the army had left many in fear of what might happen next. The guards were more aggressive than ever, almost instantly reaching for their weapons at the slightest hints of trouble.

The boy walked over a large plaza, filled with roaring masses of people. Apparently someone was to be executed again. It really were horrible times. Sighing deeply, Nei turned around and walked back into the shadows of the buildings, creeping along the edge of the plaza and towards a dark alley. He saw a pile of horse shit on the ground and carefully stepped around it when he suddenly heard a word that made him stop his movements and turn his head towards the alley he just passed. "Twelve hundred."

He carefully crept closer to the edge of the valley and looked inside, the stench of piss and dirt blowing in his face, though he didn't mind, he was accustomed to that smell. What was much more interesting, however, were the two men standing in the alley, hidden in the shadows and barely recognizable. One of them appeared to hold a large pelt of sorts while the other stood in front of him, apparently very angry. Nei instantly realized they were bargaining, most likely over the pelt. This could be very interesting.

He quickly retracted his head so they wouldn't notice him eavesdropping and leaned against the wall next to the entrance of the alley, listening to every word. After a few moments they were finally finished, the man having sold his pelt for twelve hundred gold pieces, or so it seemed. A smile flashed over the boys face. Twelve hundred...that amount of money would cover at least two, maybe three months without having to worry about anything. He had to get them, at all cost.

Waiting for the man with money to leave the alley, he pulled the hood deep in his face. He wasn't disappointed. Moments later a tall man stepped out of the shadows, tossing a bag full of coins into the air and catching it again. To Nei's delight he even stepped into the pile of shit. "Perfect, seems like he is an idiot.", the pickpocket thought to himself and pushed himself off the wall, slowly following the man through the crowd of people. He would have to wait for a good opportunity to get the money and then disappear as quickly as possible.

At one point in her short life, she had admired the spire that reached up into the sky. It had stood as a sign of hope for the people down below. Though her views of the spire had long since changed. The elves female stood at her King's side. She watched him with bright teal eyes that would have looked unnatural on a human. Her pointed ears twitched as she listened to the grovelling man on the floor. A few onlookers kept glancing at her. While Elves were not uncommon in Taethil, it was very rare to see one in the charcoal armor of the King's Legionnaires.*

Ryska had come to Taethil from the north when she was just a child. Her father was a blacksmith and her mother helped him in his trade. She had once aspired to be like her father until she picked up a sword. That fateful day she decided she wanted to be a Legionnaire. So she trained hard and joined the Legion around the same time that Lanius was forced into by his father. The two became friends and Ryska vowed to protect Lanius until she died.*

So there she was, watching from her place next to the throne. Unlike the others, she was highly visible to all and she did not stand as still as the others. Even her armor was slightly different than theirs. It was far less bulky and fit her more like a second skin than actual armor. A smirk pulled at her lips as she watched the scene unfold. The smirk grew as the woman was left to decide her husbands fate. There was nothing Ryska loved more than seeing a female given power over a man. It was an empowering feeling.*

When Lanius returned to his throne, she took a step closer to her King. "Wise decision my King." Her voice was soft yet it held power to it. A few of the court above looked down at Ryska with fear in their eyes. Rumor had it that she had been there when Lanius had killed his brother and she had been the one to who actually killed his brother. The rumor was slightly true. The elven female had been there when Lanius took the throne but she had not killed his brother. She raised her arm and her hand ran through the white locks of hair that grew from her head. It was a bad habit of hers. She messed with her hair when she grew bored. Ryska looked around as she waited for whatever may happen next. She wasn't sure if there was another peasant coming in or not that day.*

(Not my best but it'll get us moving a bit >_> )

Within a deep dark alleyway a low gurgling sound was there. Though no one heard it as they all continued on with their lives. The gurgling sound came from a man about 50 in his years with his throat cut. Cross lifted the blade that took the man's life and wiped the dripping blood stains off the blade on the mans shirt. Then as Cross sheathed his blade he bent down and grabbed a bag of coins that was in the man's hand. "Next time old man, don't cheat me out of my winnings." Cross said with a smirk.

He left the man there in the alleyway as he walked back onto the street. As he walked down the street he paused to look up at the spire. He spit on the ground as he mumbled under his breath with disgust "Money hungry fat pigs." directed towards the monarchy of the city. He then turned down a side street and stopped at a shop that was selling books. He entered inside the bookstore, and was greeted by another old man "Welcome to my shop, please look around we must have something for your needs." Cross looked at the man with disgust. Cross then began to examine the books.

Once he found one that he would like. He picked it up off the shelf, on the cover it said 'Histories of Taethil' He brought it up to the shop keeper and bought it without a word. Leaving the shop he opened the book and sat down on a bench outside the shop reading the book.

The stink of horse crap followed him around all through the market. There was nothing that caught his eye that he would ever be interested in buying. A few elven silk sheets that were said to give you a relaxing sleep every night. A few alchemists bragged that they had several bedroom remedies to cure whatever problems your little friend had. It baffled Nathaniel what people would buy without proof of working. On the west side of the market there was a large stick that the stall owner swore to the gods above that the stick would grant you unbelievable fortune.

The marketplace was under heavy watch by the city guard. One could not go ten steps without seeing one survey the area, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. Nathaniel stepped into a small stable at the edge of the city which had three guards posted on the outside. Nathaniel stepped in, getting an ugly glare from one of them. He ignored it and stepped towards the stable-master.

“Are your horses for sale?” He asked.

“They are indeed, sir. What can I do you for?” The stable master said staring at his horses with pride. “You want the meat or the creature itself?”

“The creature itself.” Nathaniel said. “Horse meat leaves me feeling guilty in the morning.”

“Aye, intelligent creatures they are. What kind would you like—they’re quite expensive, I might add?”

“I’d like to see them. But I’m willing to pay a good price.” Nathaniel said as he scanned through the herd. “How young are they?”

“They’re a young bunch. four to seven years here. But she’ll live much longer and they make excellent lifelong companions.” He said as he stroked a pure black stallions mane. The creature itself had caught Nathaniel’s eye several moments before. “You like her?”

“She looks well bred.” He whistled. “Is it right to assume she can be allowed to live here if I buy her?”

“You’ll have to pay for rent and food, but yeah, I’ll allow it.” The stable-master said in a kind tone. “So, make me an offer.”

“Nine hundred.” Nathaniel said almost immediately. Anyone could tell from his desperate tone how much he wanted the horse and the stable master laughed.

“I like you, son.” He said softly. “I’ll let it go at that price, just take care of her. She’s a good beast. Let me just get the papers.”

Nathaniel smiled as he watched the large man move away towards a back room. Nathaniel stroked his hand through the horses mane. The Stable-master came back with a huge grin on his face. Nathaniel signed the papers. “Thank you, sir.” He then began to hand the stable master his bag of coins and seal the deal.

Where was this man going? Nei slowly followed his target, staying well behind him so he wouldn't be noticed, yet always keeping his eyes fixed onto the man's back. He hadn't been able to take a closer look at him before, but now that they were talking in bright day light he was finally able to inspect the man's clothing and face. To Nei, he looked like a rough fellow, maybe a travelling warrior of sorts. Well, it didn't really matter. All he had to concern himself with was how he would be able to steal that man's money. If he was lucky the man would turn into one of the taverns and get drunk. That way it would be a piece of cake to steal the purse.

Unfortunately, however, that wasn't the case. Instead the man slendered over the buzzing market for a time, before eventually turning toward the stables. This was bad. If he was to buy a horse he would most likely spend most of his money, since most of them were rather expensive. And stealing the money from the stable-master was much too risky. If he were to get caught stealing money from a stable-master, especially this amount of money, he would lose both his hands. No, somehow he had to get his hands on the money before the traveller was able to seal the deal. Pushing past two drunken prostitues, Nei stopped in a large building's shadow, close enough to distinguish the words the two men were saying. 900 gold coins...still enough money to live comfortably for a month, if only he could grab it somehow. He had to think of a plan, and quickly, before the man would give it over to the stable-master.

Biting on his lower lip, the thief watched them anxeously, as the stable-master walked back into his hut to retrieve the papers. Finally, when the stable-master returned to his customer, an idea popped up in Nei's head. He quickly reached down and grabbed a pile of dried horse poop. He took a step forward and threw the dirt at one of the horses, past the two men, who were preoccupied with their papers. The pile of poop hit one of the larger horses right in the face, causing it jump up, yelling in pain.

Nei hoped that the sudden noise would distract the two men for a moment, long enough for him to jump forward, dart towards them and grab the purse the traveller still held in his hand. Then he quickly turned around on his heels and jumped into a group of people, hoping to mingle into the crowd.