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SACRILEGE WAR (Grimdark Fantasy NRP)

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Myrlian Belt Thread is up!

The Myrlian Belt ~ Harmonious Network ~ Open To All

The Myrlian Belt

Insanity, chaos, opportunity, all these words have been used to describe the Myrlian belt. A region of space defined by its four inhabitable systems and numerous terraformed words, the belt was once the site of an extensive, and expensive, colonization campaign. The Directorate of Myr, a government within the greater Harmonious Network, put enough capital into the project that many considered the belt to be a prospective hub of commerce and development. The only problem was that the project became so expensive the Directorate ran out of funds. Taxes higher than any in the network were leveled within the Directorate to address the crises, but ultimately political pressure demanded the entire effort be abandoned forty three years ago.

Isolated on the distant outer rim of the Harmonious Network, with only the most developed system having a way station, the Myrlian Belt fell apart. Paychecks stopped arriving and then laws stopped being enforced. Billions of credits worth of weaponry went missing as soldiers abandoned their posts and took 'severance packages' with them, aiming to turn a hefty profit. Those weapons found their way into the hands of individuals who aspired to be the new lords of the belt, and soon war became a constant in the life of those foolish enough to have moved to a once shining beacon of civilization.

Without easy transport millions were trapped to live in a new kind of hell. Those on the less developed planets were the luckiest; for the most part they were free to live out bucolic, unimportant, lives away from the ravages of war. However, even on those dusty, half terraformed, and easily forgotten worlds, law had become a thing of the past. Pirates, raiders, mercenaries, the Myrlian belt had forever become a haven and utopia to them all.

The Systems of the Myrlian Belt:

Agrel

Agrel was once the capital of the fringe, the golden system of the Myrlian Belt. Now the skyscrapers that pierced the clouds of Agrel Prime are bombed out sniper perches. With the only way station in the whole of the belt, the system is both the most civilized and the most dangerous. Civil war between dozens of factions has made the space of the system a near constant warzone, and the planets below fare little better with their people staving more often than not. Even so, if one wants advanced medicine, technology, or information from the outside galaxy, they go to Agrel.

Planets of the Agrel System

Agrel Prime
A long time ago Agrel Prime was the hub of the Belt, a world that was the gateway to the new fringe and the poster boy of Network expansionism. Now? Agrel Prime, with its vast cities and dense temperate rainforests, is undoubtedly the most war torn planet in the whole of the Network. With its enormous propaganda value the planet has never been subjected to serious bombardment like Sebet, but it has never been unified either. Divided between dozens of warlords both local and from abroad, the world is an endless battleground. Still, Agrel Prime plays host to the only waystation in the Myrlian Belt. If one wishes to have any claim to the belt as a whole they must control Agrel Prime and the way station that serves to link the belt to the rest of the universe.

Sebet
All the planets of the Agrel system have suffered from more than four decades of endless war, but few have the scars that Sebet does. In the days before the Directorates withdrawal the planet was an unassuming business world host to an uncommon and growing human majority population. Now it remains a Human majority world, but not a single building stands on its surface. In the immediate aftermath of the Directorate's withdrawal Sebet’s humans blamed the collapse of society on the aliens of the belt; a societal madness took hold and soon the mobs that set about ‘rectifying the problem’ with a disturbing passion were all that remained. The xenophobic regime that spawned from such mobs took control of Sebet and defended its people against the new warlords of the Agrel system, but toxic philosophy compelled the regime to go further than mere self defense. An endless war against the alien menace has all but consumed the world of Sebet. First it was industry, then the population centers, now everything and everyone has been relocated to the immense network of subterranean bunkers that were built to survive the near endless long range bombardment the surface has sustained. On Sebet nothing lives above ground but the moss that grows in great craters.

Hebyr

Hebyr was an agricultural system when times were good, and it remains one today. The only difference is in who owns what. Before the Directorate abandoned their project the worlds of Hebyr were the subject of vast terraforming experiments aimed towards the creation of new edens. Hyper fertile worlds with unnatural and fantastic ecosystems, the many planets and moons of Hebyr became the sole source of an uncountable number of organic luxury goods. Yet it was the people of Hebyr who suffered most from the collapse of Directorate control. Slavers descended upon the system and took its people as expendable chattel, useful only for working the fields and harvesting the systems rare natural riches until they could work no longer. Once a promising system, it is now said Hebyr is where the damned go to die.

Planets of the Hebyr System

Pale Harbor
The frozen moon of an ice giant, Pale Harbour is a harsh place for humanoids. Temperatures sit just under freezing in a tropical summer; elsewhere they are much lower. The atmosphere is Himalayan at best, and worldwide aurora mark the passage of cosmic rays through an unprotected sky.

Nevertheless it is heavily forested by translucent 'trees', and supported a bountiful terrestrial and atmospheric ecosystem before the introduction of heavy agriculture. Its native fauna, largely invertebrates, are raised in cramped billions using containment domes, factory farms, and advanced stock-herding robots. The indigenous people are treated little better.

Watching slavers ship their planet away one freezer crate at a time, the Skippers click their claws and thump the ground, praying that their gods will send them opportunity.

Terveni
Trees that pierce the clouds, megafauna that leave craters where they walk, Terveni is a world as dangerous as it is bountiful. At one point the world was the site of an experiment in the creation of more efficient lifeforms, but even before the withdrawal of the directorate the effort had been abandoned. The risk had outweighed the reward. The creatures of Terveni had certainly become more efficient with the directorates tampering, but they had used that abundance of energy to grow to staggering scales. Combined with a strange and frighteningly aggressive new set of behaviors, the life of Terveni simply became too hazardous to study. However, the slaver overlords of Terveni have managed to set up a different sort of operation from their tree cities. Slaves are used to hunt for and harvest the flora and fauna of the strange world. Acting as both labor and a food source for the local wildlife, the slaves of Terveni have it worse than most.

Regen

When the directorate left the belt they left their project incomplete, and nowhere is this more evident than the Regen system. There exist no fully terraformed worlds in the system, but rather a number of half finished planets full of desert, dust, ice, what lord knows what else. With such unappealing locales, Regen is where the wanted hide. As to the systems people, there are few. Farmers eek out a peaceful existence where they can, but the land is harsh and for every year of peace there is another where whole towns will be levelled by rampaging bounty hunters.

Planets of the Regen System

Anne’s Hope
Annes Hope is at once one of the most livable planets within the Regen system, and one of the most avoided. The world is horribly arid, sparsely vegetated, and scorched by a relentless sun. To wander the dunes and badlands of Anne’s hope is to court death. Thankfully, the world has more than arid windswept lands. The planet’s surface is marred by a massive network of seemingly bottomless canyons, and this is where the world's paltry slice of civilization exists. Most cities and towns on Anne’s Hope are built into the sides of the canyons where the air is cooler; strange multilevel constructions carved into the walls of canyons and strung together with bridges, the settlements are odd by any standard. In areas where the canyons are shallower there exist rare communities built on the banks of what few rivers Anne’s hope plays host to.

Yente

Where Agrel fell to warlords, Yente fell to criminals. Perhaps a nicer place to live than Agrel, Yente's development has been stifled but not stopped. The syndicates that rule the systems planets do as they please, but when it benefits them they do contribute to the society they run. Still, on Yente there are only those in the syndicates and those who are not. Living in perpetual poverty with few rights, the people of Yente's worlds have been left with no hope but to help their rulers build their palaces and manufacture their drugs.

Planets of the Yente System

Beroz
Beroz is a world that required only the bare minimum in terms of terraforming. While many native species died in the effort to make the planet habitable, it is also one of the few worlds in the belt that still hosts truly alien life. In particular, an odd moss as dense as ironwood grows on Beroz. With millions of years to cover the planet's surface this moss has grown to be hundreds of meters thick in some areas. Huge structures made of the plant mottle the surface of Beroz, and most of the world's cities are built in the immense natural tunnels left in the wake of the floras growth. Wandering down any of these tunnels without the proper equipment could spell death as the shifting nature of the moss can leave unwary travelers stranded. The labyrinthine character of the planet makes it perfect for the many syndicates of Yente. Used as a production facility for whatever might be illegal wherever, the planet is a massive exporter of all things illicit.

What You Need To Know!

-The Myrlian Belt is a chaotic utopia for mercenaries, pirates, slavers, outlaws, and the general scum of the universe!

-There is no central authority in the Belt. You might get in trouble with one of the hundreds of factions in the star cluster, but generally nobody except for them them will care. Murder and pillage away.

-While the Myrlian Belt is in the Harmonious Network, anyone can play around here. This is just a setting. Take the first shuttle to the best worst place in the universe today!

-The general Expanding Horizons rules apply, but I'm not going to be reporting anyone for excessive violence or any other sort of non-pornographic content. The Myrlian Belt is a terrible place and things happen. That said, use your heads Mmkay?

-IMPORTANT: Anyone can contribute a planet or setting to the Myrlian Belt. The ones you see here are only the starting locations! I'd prefer it not get ridiculous but a few more planets per system is 100% acceptable and in fact desired.

Black Sun - Age of Wolves (Always Open)

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Prologue

City of Thulthar, Heartlands
_{Act I | Fallen Shades}

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The gambling den house was alive with sounds of laughter and the occasional bout of cursing. The large room held over a dozen round tables around each held several patrons who were in the midst of seeking and losing fortunes as mistress lucks whims ebbed and swayed. One particular fellow, who’s tanned complexion and disheveled appearance suggested a sailors occupation was having less than ideal success as it was. He was a burly fellow who hailed from the dark island Sheol. Given some much-needed shore leave in the capital he had hoped to make some coin on the side as he always did off anyone willing to face him in a game of dice and bones. He happened to win more often than not, something he liked to contribute to both skill and his cunning, be it as it was.

Knowing when and what to call always seemed to come naturally to the man, so often that his fellow sailors aboard his ship often called him ‘Lucky Jack.’ That luck, however, seemed to have failed him today. Repeatedly. Sat across from him was a woman barely half his size. She had long dark hair that was braided into thick locks a round face and a nose slightly on the wide side. Still, she had an unmistakable feminine touch to her features that most men would find attractive. He might agree more if he was not currently losing to her in a wondrous fashion.

Her ebony skin and faded white eyes marked her as clear as day as an umberan. One of the shadow touched folk of the west. Not an oddity on the mainland, but her cloths were certainly bizarre, to say the least. It was minimalistic at best, and the tribal-like tattoos of white that covered most of her body, in fact, that same white body paint around her lower jaw just under her nose was fashioned like the lower jaw of a skull. Not being from the mainland Jack could not decipher the meaning behind the tattoos, but the Empire was rift with many cults that often passed themselves off as legitimate mage guilds.

She was currently leaning back in her seat with one arm hanging over the backseat of her chair. Her eyes were boring holes into Jack as he nervously rolled the dice around in one hand with his own eyes glued to the table and the sum of coin he’d already lost. He was not alone, though the others of the game had wisely backed out earlier on. A smart man would do the same, but pride and anger, born from not being used to losing let alone this much money, had forced him to continue. Worse still the she-bitch continued to egg him on with snide remarks now and again. No doubt it was all a ploy to make him reckless. The thing he hated most was it was working.

“Oh, poor Jack, have you finally given in?” Her voice dripped with sarcastic scorn, “maybe I’ll leave you a copper out of pity?”

He clenched his teeth in frustration as he made a fist out of the hand with dice, “this…. Y-your cheatin! Can’t be no other way you keep winnin! Ain’t no one that lucky least the mother kissed you herself!”

Others at the table shuffled uncomfortably at the near blasphemy Jack spoke, but he was too angry to care. The woman, however, only smiled that damned smile of hers utterly unbothered by the outburst. He looked around at the others still seated at the table before adding with an accusing finger, “magicks I say! She’s a damn sorceress witch! Is the only way I see’it!”

The woman gave a gasp and held a hand to her mouth mockingly. “Meee? Never? I know nothing of the arcane, but even a mere peasants know's you need chanting and circles.”

“Don’t pull that me, you got some trinket or the like,” in fact Jack knew for a fact such things existed for he held such a charm he had stolen many years ago. Thinking of it now his left hand subconsciously fell into his side pocket. His eyes lifted in surprise to find his pocket empty. A few moments passed as he quickly began to check each of his pockets repeatedly. All the while the woman herself looked on with a condescending smile. After a length of time had passed she raised a hand with a necklace with a carved animal tied to its string.

“Are you looking for this?” She asked in an innocent tone.

“Th-that’s mine! You little thief!” Jack jumped to his feat scattering the dice to the ground and knocking over several items on their table.

“Yours? Why I found this laying on the ground a little while back,”

“That’s a magic charm; you have been cheating you little bitch!”

“I have no idea what you mean; you did say this was yours did you not?”

Jack’s mouth opened then closed-- momentarily caught off guard by the sudden turn of events. Grunting in frustration and indignant beyond reason, Jack shot his hand forward to grab his money citing, “I won’t be robbed by no damn thief. I-”

Faster than anyone present could follow Jack’s hand was intercepted by the woman's, grabbing his pinky before, with a simple twist of her wrist and lightening fast downward pull she yanked the man forward placing him in a sudden and painful pin. Jack found himself suddenly forced to hugging the table top with his face as his arm became stretched across it at an awkward position. The woman bent his pinky finger forward toward him, and he grunted in pain and stopped his struggling short.

“Such a shame, you’ve cheated dozens out of their money but lo and behold the moment the tables turn you cry fowl.”

“Don’t just stand there you arses,” Jack managed to cry out, aiming this towards his fellow deckhands still around the table. One of them took a step towards the woman but stopped short as she gave him a withering stare and he suddenly lost heart and stepped back. It seemed Jack was not as liked as he might have thought, especially considering recent revelations. Stretched out as he was and with each small movement, he made bringing pain Jack was helpless.

“Poor friendless Jack, a cheat, a liar, and all you have to call yours is a broken hand.”

“My hands not broken you bi-” With a sudden violent push forward she bent his pinky finger back over the back of his hand with startling strength and with that same hold, she used both hands to twist his wrist. Jack screamed in pain as he fell back knocking over his chair as he clutched his right hand to his chest, as he cursed and mumbled in pain the woman pitched her winnings into a pouch before tucking it behind her back and offering Jack a mocking bow.

“I thank you all for you generous donations.”

Finally, one of the men still standing around the table snarled angrily and stepped forward, “hold on a damn tic, you don’t think you can just walk out of here after cheating us out of our coin.”

“Oh and why not, if you have an issue you can take it up with Jack.”

Already she was walking away having put them out of her mind seemingly already. Of Course, it did not take long before a particularly bold individual strode forward before his hand could even make contact with the woman's shoulder to stop her short. The biggest Umberal Jack had ever seen had taken hold of that sailor's hand. The sailor in question was a lean armed fellow and pulled fruitlessly against the larger man’s seemingly iron hold. Jack had not even noticed where the lout had even come from, but it only took a moment to see him for what he was. The man was bald, or shaved, but sported a dark goatee and wore a dark gray gambeson over which was a black cape with the inner surface a dark crimson. The brown leather cuirass over the man's chest was what really got the attention of those gathered, for there for all to see was the symbol of the Justicar.

“I would not advise that if I were you,” the big man's voice was deep and cultured, holding a strange and soothing calm to it. Much unlike the woman's, who now that Jack thought about it, seemed to hold some resemblance to the Justicar.

“Aleena are you making friends again?”

“Hmmm, I guess you can say that.” the woman, Aleena, stated with a shrug.

The big man finally let go the arm he was holding, and the owner of that hand fell back nursing the discomfort as he held that same hand close to his chest. It seemed no one wanted to say a thing now that a Justicar had shown up, one that apparently knew this strange woman at that.

“Well, you’ll have to say goodbye, we’ve been called upon. It seems we have a shade to hunt. Or at least the killer of one.”

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Free City of Ardaza

Port City of Ardaza, Heartlands
_{Act I | Fallen Shades}

One Week Later.

Jahard Nhazum was beginning to appreciate very quickly the difficulty of the task set before him and his sister. The guards that had found the scene of murder days ago had since stripped and disposed of the body. It was a sensible though unfortunate outcome that had not been unforeseen. At the very least they had managed to retrieve his belongings, for what little good it did in their investigation, it at least left something to send back to the Enclave. Outside the watch station, Jahard cracked his neck as he thought of his next move.

His sister was leaning against the wall beside the watchtowers door toying with one of her daggers. He gave a single glance and could tell immediately she was still stewing over having to wait outside. An inevitable outcome given she had 'implied' bodily harm to the guardsmen several times during their questioning. Out of pity for the man, he was forced to suggest his sister wait outside. Without looking up from the long knife in her hands, she spoke first.

“I take it we learned nothing of value?”

Jahard frowned slightly, “less than I would have liked.” He placed his hands on his waist as he scanned the cobbled road around them. Noting as the sun was setting there were few people out now. It was not too late to find an inn of some sort to make their stay in the city an easier one while they went about their investigation. He’d have to make sure it was a respectable establishment if he wanted to keep his sister out of further trouble. It would not do to make a bad first impression while in an Exarch’s city.

“I still think we should have given that watch captain a small stabbing at least,”

Jahard rolled his eyes, and with his back to her, he knew she’d not see it, “no Aleena. We can’t just maim every guard you think to be incompetent. They did their job as they needed, they had no way of knowing the importance of the body they found.”

Aleena huffed, “you’re far too soft brother, half the guards in this city are scum, anyway. I think they could stand to have their numbers beaten into something respectable.”

“Not our place, and a waste of time. We at least learned of where they found the body; we’ll check it in the morning and see if we find anything they might have missed.”

Aleena kissed her teeth, “those fools couldn’t find their arse with both hands. I’d not be surprised at all if they missed the murder weapon all together.”

They could be so lucky Jahard thought as he ran a hand over his shaved head-- eyes closed in thought. If someone had been able to kill one of the Hands of Kabius they were not people to underestimate. He doubted very much it would be anything as easy as his sister made it out. Of course, she probably knew that and was only mocking him.

Jahard and Aleena were among the most skilled and dedicated agents the Justicar’s could count among their order. For criminals to low for the attention of a shade, but whose innocence was yet uncertain, there were the Justicar’s of the Empire. They were as much feared as they were respected. Theirs was an order of cunning and cleverness as much as strength and power. The well-trained Justicar needed to examine and question- list every barrel and analyze any testimony for the faintest breath of a clue. Nothing was insurmountable. Any knot that puzzled you, one need but mark for later investigation and return to it when they had learned a better method of untangling it. There had to be no limits to a Justicar's resolve.

No riddle was unknowable; no foe unbeatable; no mystery unsolvable.

Breathing in then exhaling slowly, Jahard calmed his mind and nodded to himself. Yes, it was to early to think the trail to difficult to follow. In many ways he and his sister embodied the best aspects of the Justicar. Where he was calm, rational, cautious, and far thinking. His sister was cunning, ruthless, merciless, and the most deadly killer he knew. They helped balance each other, making up for the shortcomings each possessed.

“Well?” His sister's sudden interruption breaking his reverie. Before he could respond he noticed someone further down the street approaching with purpose.

Donning a rich blue uniform and short cape that contrasted with his blond beard and hair Nilos Metaxas, captain of the city guard, strode toward the pair confidently. Behind him a small entourage of less kempt men followed in similar, though more worn dress. A habitual smile formed on his lips as he neared the pair before introducing his personage, “Justicars! I'd heard some of your order had been wandering around here, though I can't say I fully believed it! I'm the Captain of the poor sods you must have been interrogating in here, name's Nilos.”

Jahard had watched as the man and his entourage neared and offered his own smile, "ah, Captain Nilos is it?" Jahard said .as he extended a hand in greeting, "we had thought of arranging a meeting for you in the morning. But I see you have found us! How fortunate."

"My name is Jahard Nhazum," he then gestured to his sister behind him who seemed to be paying them no real attention, "and this is my sister and colleague Aleena."

His attention returned to the captain as his expression became more somber, "I take it you likely have some inkling as to the reason for our visit to your charming city?"

Aleena scarcely concealed a laugh at the word 'charming' and made no attempt to hid her smile.

“News travels of course, a dead shade I hear,” Nilos shrugged and gestured around him, “The old city is as dangerous as it is decrepit, though I'd have figured a shade could handle themselves, eh? Then again, I suppose you lot wouldn't be down here if you thought some beggar with a hidden dagger was responsible for this.”

Nilos chuckled and looked back at one of his entourage, a story better left unsaid by the sour look on the lesser guards face. He turned back to the pair and went on, “Which is why I've gone out of my way to say hello. Truth is, the Exarch isn't fond of people who can off a shade running around his city like they own the place. If you'd follow me out of his latrine of a neighbourhood he'd like to have a word.”

Jahard shared a quick glance with Aleena, and after some unseen agreement between the two Jahard looked back to the Captain, "that sounds most agreeable sera Nilos," his tone and accent revealing a hint of a scholar's tongue, at odds with his size and height. "Please lead the way."

As the group set off Aleena took up the rear, eyes ever seeming to wonder as if she was looking for something in every shadow they passed. Her hands never far from the circle of knives at her belt, fingers tapping away at an unusually large blade at her thigh. Now and again her eyes fell to one of the guardsmen with an unreadable expression. He dark almost cat-like eyes boring into him and all this for no other evident reason than to make him uncomfortable.

The road to Manuel's palace was one of contrast. The white limestone and faded paint of the sea front neighbourhoods giving way to the almost garish colour of the inner city. The further from the water one went the greater the juxtaposition was, each successive part of the city was self contained within its own wall and centred around its own palace. The many palaces of the city were the former possessions of Exarchs past and most now belonged to the wealthy or had been reclaimed as markets.

By the time the group had reached the outer city Manuel's private residence could be seen. The towers of the estate played brilliantly in the light as they came into view, the stone sides plated with 'vines' of polished metal. Manuel's residence dwarfed the rather modest palaces of the inner city, a vast and ornate structure with an outer wall that had been carved into a tremendous relief of some battle long past. Even the neighbourhood around it spoke of opulence. When the group reached the castle gate, a great door whose intricate silver inlays spoke more of vanity than defence, Nilos turned to speak with a grin, “Well, this is about where we part ways Justicars, Manuel prefers I do my job away from his precious monument. A damn shame, watching you terrorizing my subordinates was proper fun.”

Jarhard eyes took in the sight of the palace in the failing light of the setting sun, the lack of light in no way robbing it of any grander. He turned his head to Nilos as he departed, "then I thank you for the escort good Nilos."

Aleena meanwhile, paid neither much attention her mouth clearly turned up slightly in disgust as her eyes wondered over the Exarch's palace. "Oh joy, I have a creeping feeling this Manuel will be as contemptible as I feared. Who even needs a home this large? Is he compensating for something."

Jahard cleared his throat, "nevermind that sister. Let us meet Ser Skleros-- and please do try to remember to be respectful."

Jarhard led the way through the high doors as they opened and permitted them entrance, following closely behind a single guard as Aleena blew a raspberry behind his back. It did not take long before the pair were escorted through the palace and up a series of stairs that lead to a higher floor within one of the mansion's towers. They stopped before the door where presumably Manuel waited within.

The guard rapped once before stating the Justiciar's had arrived.

A voice from within bid them to enter and the guard held open the door. Within was a semi circle almost totally illuminated by natural light flowing through what seemed to be an open wall. Thin veins of metal connecting panes of glass spoke to the reality of the great window, though the effect was undiminished. Manuel Skleros sat in a heavy built padded chair at a table perpendicular to the window and gestured for the two to take similar seats on the other side.

When Jahard had taken his, and Aleena had made it clear she would stand, Manuel spoke softly, “Justicars, I must apologize for permitting this to happen. It is not often your order finds its way to my city, and I take some pride in the knowledge that I have as yet made it unnecessary.”

With a small wave dismissing the guard Manuel continued, “That aside, I’d like to provide you anything you need in your investigation. I’ve already made sure to tell the various notables of the city to cooperate with you in the apprehension of the filth that has defiled my streets. With that said, I’d like to ask one thing: if you happen across some unrelated wrong doing in your investigation, would you report it to me so that I may deal with it directly? This incident has already proved quite the blow to my cities image, I’d prefer to handle any future issues before they necessitate your attention.”

Jahard crossed his fingers as he leaned back in his chair, "we appreciate your cooperation, as well as your candor. As you are of course the ruling sovereign of this region and city, you will have the benefit of sharing in any knowledge in regards to violations of Izalith's law we come across in our investigation-- to be handle as you see fit depending on the severity of said violations."

"Now as toward our current investigation, I would wish to request one boon. As we are strangers to this city, we remain dangerously ignorant to the inner workings of this town. In short, I would ask for a guide of sorts to aid us during our investigation. They may serve the dual purpose of supporting us during our time here with critical information, as well as acting as a bridge between us. All to assist us in ensuring we remain on the same page."

“Hmm,” Manuel drummed his fingers across the table and looked out over the city, “A guide can be provided. I think of one of my guild mages, a miss Lilika Sisinis. One of my more skilled acolytes, better yet, she is all but beyond reproach. I'll send for her to accompany you and provide you any aid you need.”

"Then I thank you, Exarch Manuel." Jahard said as he inclined his head, "with any luck we shall discover the ones responsible for this crime quickly and perhaps rid your city of this trifling matter."

"Not that it will make any difference in this city," Aleena said under her breath from where she stood at the room's window.

Clearing his throat suddenly Jahard quickly added, "well, I believe we have come to an agreement, onto another matter though I suspect I know the answer already I shall ask all the same for the sake of thoroughness."

Jahard paused a moment as if to collect his thoughts and continued, "now the business of shades is by nature one often kept in shadow, even between themselves. However, we know at least there was something that drew this one's particular attention to your fair city. Might you beware of what that might be? Strange going on's, an unscheduled docking perhaps? Any insight you might be able to shed could prove useful, as I am sure you are more aware of the going on's of your city than I."

Looking up Manuel smiled, “The business of the Archon's shade is beyond me Justicar. Ardaza is a port of prime location, were I to go over every unscheduled docking in the last month well, we would simply lack the time. I try to keep myself informed of course, but I have my limits. All I can say is that the city is quite unchanged from the usual, as your colleague there might put it, nothing is notably different about this month in regard to the last.”

Manuel paused and looked out the window again, this time to a small square on the estate where there rested a sizable pile of crates, “Then again, I am hosting quite the festival in a week or so. After all a war council has been called. Glory in the future and all that, it's good to let people celebrate for what might be the last time in a while. Moreover, it's always good to provide people an excuse to meet and make merry.”

Jahard lifted a hand to his chin, running a hand through his goatee in thought as he stared vacantly for a moment before he gave a single nod. "I see, then we shall be forced to start at the beginning as planned. Still, if you might have your watch captain obtain a portfolio of all the ships that have docked in the past two months. That might prove useful in the coming days, best to have it just in case. It might be time-consuming and perhaps even a waste."

"A complete waste." Aleena managed to chime in.

"But such is the nature of these things. One constant that often remains true in any port city is that anything truly worth learning can eventually be traced back to its docks. Good or ill."

"In the meanwhile, I think we shall take our leave and retire before the night is upon us. I will have word sent on the morrow where your acolyte might meet us before we begin our investigation in earnest. It would seem our first challenge will be finding suitable lodging within the city proper-- unless you have any suggestions."

Manuel looked the pair over, lingering on Aleena, before he spoke, “I know an innkeeper in the inner city, he should provide your lodgings free of charge for so long as you require them. I shall await your word Justicar, but for now I simply wish you the best.

Jahard stood and offered a bow with a fist to his chest, "and to you as well your grace."

Black Sun - Age of Wolves (Always Open)

<Snipped quote by GreivousKhan>

Shitshitshit I'm behind!

@Aristo

shame

Black Sun - Age of Wolves (Always Open)

Aight

Manuel Skleros is done.

Need to finish up Ardaza

Black Sun - Age of Wolves (Always Open)

Hello everyone.

@ArisenMoon

Hey!

How can we help improve RPGuild? Community suggestions and discussion.

Oh, new complaint.

Can we disable the visitor page? I made a reply whoopsie and now it's there forever on my profile.

How can we help improve RPGuild? Community suggestions and discussion.

I agree that it's ultimately up to the GM, the idea of imposing a site wide system to do that judgement call for them is a bit silly.

If I GM an RP there are people I will not allow in it, and there are people I will accept without a sheet given my level of trust in them. Every GM has to make that call based on their own experiences.

Black Sun (A Warhammer/ Game of Thrones /Crusader Kings Hybrid)

OOC is up.